110 research outputs found
A new triadotypomorphan insect from the Anisian (Middle Triassic), Buntsandstein facies, Spain
The species rubra sp. nov., a new triadotypomorphan insect from the Iberian Ranges, is described on the basis of a newly discovered specimen, found in fine grained sandstones of alluvial origin, in the lowermost part of the Eslida Formation (Buntsandstein facies), in the central part of the Iberian Ranges. The occurrence of a triadotypomorphan suggests an Anisian age of the Eslida Formation. The species represents the oldest Mesozoic insect described from Spain, and provides interesting information to better appreciate the process of ecosystems recovery after the Permian-Triassic boundary crisis.La especie rubra sp. nov., un nuevo insecto triadotipomorfo de la Cordillera IbĂ©rica, es descrito en este trabajo en base a un nuevo espĂ©cimen hallado en un nivel de areniscas de grano fino de origen aluvial en la parte mĂĄs baja de la FormaciĂłn Eslida (facies Buntsandstein), en la zona central de la Cordillera IbĂ©rica. La apariciĂłn de este triadotipomorfo confirma la edad AnsĂense (TriĂĄsico Medio) de la FormaciĂłn Eslida. La especie encontrada representa el insecto mĂĄs antiguo hallado en el Mesozoico de España y una interesante informaciĂłn para comprender mejor el proceso de recuperaciĂłn de los ecosistemas tras la crisis del lĂmite PĂ©rmico-TriĂĄsico
Fungal microbiota from rain water and pathogenicity of Fusarium species isolated from atmospheric dust and rainfall dust
In order to determine the presence of Fusarium spp. in atmospheric dust and rainfall dust, samples were collected during September 2007, and July, August, and October 2008. The results reveal the prevalence of airborne Fusarium species coming from the atmosphere of the South East coast of Spain. Five different Fusarium species were isolated from the settling dust: Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, F. equiseti, F. dimerum, and F. proliferatum. Moreover, rainwater samples were obtained during significant rainfall events in January and February 2009. Using the dilution-plate method, 12 fungal genera were identified from these rainwater samples. Specific analyses of the rainwater revealed the presence of three species of Fusarium: F. oxysporum, F. proliferatum and F. equiseti. A total of 57 isolates of Fusarium spp. obtained from both rainwater and atmospheric rainfall dust sampling were inoculated onto melon (Cucumis melo L.) cv. Piñonet and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cv. San Pedro. These species were chosen because they are the main herbaceous crops in Almeria province. The results presented in this work indicate strongly that spores or propagules of Fusarium are able to cross the continental barrier carried by winds from the Sahara (Africa) to crop or coastal lands in Europe. Results show differences in the pathogenicity of the isolates tested. Both hosts showed root rot when inoculated with different species of Fusarium, although fresh weight measurements did not bring any information about the pathogenicity. The findings presented above are strong indications that long-distance transmission of Fusarium propagules may occur. Diseases caused by species of Fusarium are common in these areas. They were in the past, and are still today, a problem for greenhouses crops in AlmerĂa, and many species have been listed as pathogens on agricultural crops in this region. Saharan air masses dominate the Mediterranean regions. The evidence of long distance dispersal of Fusarium spp. by atmospheric dust and rainwater together with their proved pathogenicity must be taken into account in epidemiological studies
Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea
Observing, modelling and understanding the climate-scale variability of the deep water formation (DWF) in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea remains today very challenging. In this study, we first characterize the interannual variability of this phenomenon by a thorough reanalysis of observations in order to establish reference time series. These quantitative indicators include 31 observed years for the yearly maximum mixed layer depth over the period 1980â2013 and a detailed multi-indicator description of the period 2007â2013. Then a 1980â2013 hindcast simulation is performed with a fully-coupled regional climate system model including the high-resolution representation of the regional atmosphere, ocean, land-surface and rivers. The simulation reproduces quantitatively well the mean behaviour and the large interannual variability of the DWF phenomenon. The model shows convection deeper than 1000 m in 2/3 of the modelled winters, a mean DWF rate equal to 0.35 Sv with maximum values of 1.7 (resp. 1.6) Sv in 2013 (resp. 2005). Using the model results, the winter-integrated buoyancy loss over the Gulf of Lions is identified as the primary driving factor of the DWF interannual variability and explains, alone, around 50 % of its variance. It is itself explained by the occurrence of few stormy days during winter. At daily scale, the Atlantic ridge weather regime is identified as favourable to strong buoyancy losses and therefore DWF, whereas the positive phase of the North Atlantic oscillation is unfavourable. The driving role of the vertical stratification in autumn, a measure of the water column inhibition to mixing, has also been analyzed. Combining both driving factors allows to explain more than 70 % of the interannual variance of the phenomenon and in particular the occurrence of the five strongest convective years of the model (1981, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2013). The model simulates qualitatively well the trends in the deep waters (warming, saltening, increase in the dense water volume, increase in the bottom water density) despite an underestimation of the salinity and density trends. These deep trends come from a heat and salt accumulation during the 1980s and the 1990s in the surface and intermediate layers of the Gulf of Lions before being transferred stepwise towards the deep layers when very convective years occur in 1999 and later. The salinity increase in the near Atlantic Ocean surface layers seems to be the external forcing that finally leads to these deep trends. In the future, our results may allow to better understand the behaviour of the DWF phenomenon in Mediterranean Sea simulations in hindcast, forecast, reanalysis or future climate change scenario modes. The robustness of the obtained results must be however confirmed in multi-model studies
Phylogenomic analysis sheds light on the evolutionary pathways towards acoustic communication in Orthoptera
Acoustic communication is enabled by the evolution of specialised hearing and sound producing organs. In this study, we performed a large-scale macroevolutionary study to understand how both hearing and sound production evolved and affected diversification in the insect order Orthoptera, which includes many familiar singing insects, such as crickets, katydids, and grasshoppers. Using phylogenomic data, we firmly establish phylogenetic relationships among the major lineages and divergence time estimates within Orthoptera, as well as the lineage-specific and dynamic patterns of evolution for hearing and sound producing organs. In the suborder Ensifera, we infer that forewing-based stridulation and tibial tympanal ears co-evolved, but in the suborder Caelifera, abdominal tympanal ears first evolved in a non-sexual context, and later co-opted for sexual signalling when sound producing organs evolved. However, we find little evidence that the evolution of hearing and sound producing organs increased diversification rates in those lineages with known acoustic communication
Cross-bracing uncalibrated nodes in molecular dating improves congruence of fossil and molecular age estimates
Climate Influence on Deep Sea Populations
Dynamics of biological processes on the deep-sea floor are traditionally thought to be controlled by vertical sinking of particles from the euphotic zone at a seasonal scale. However, little is known about the influence of lateral particle transport from continental margins to deep-sea ecosystems. To address this question, we report here how the formation of dense shelf waters and their subsequent downslope cascade, a climate induced phenomenon, affects the population of the deep-sea shrimp Aristeus antennatus. We found evidence that strong currents associated with intense cascading events correlates with the disappearance of this species from its fishing grounds, producing a temporary fishery collapse. Despite this initial negative effect, landings increase between 3 and 5 years after these major events, preceded by an increase of juveniles. The transport of particulate organic matter associated with cascading appears to enhance the recruitment of this deep-sea living resource, apparently mitigating the general trend of overexploitation. Because cascade of dense water from continental shelves is a global phenomenon, we anticipate that its influence on deep-sea ecosystems and fisheries worldwide should be larger than previously thought
Updating temperature and salinity mean values and trends in the Western Mediterranean: the RADMED project
Postprin
Taxonomic and Environmental Variability in the Elemental Composition and Stoichiometry of Individual Dinoflagellate and Diatom Cells from the NW Mediterranean Sea
Here we present, for the first time, the elemental concentration, including C, N and O, of single phytoplankton cells collected from the sea. Plankton elemental concentration and stoichiometry are key variables in phytoplankton ecophysiology and ocean biogeochemistry, and are used to link cells and ecosystems. However, most field studies rely on bulk techniques that overestimate carbon and nitrogen because the samples include organic matter other than plankton organisms. Here we used X-ray microanalysis (XRMA), a technique that, unlike bulk analyses, gives simultaneous quotas of C, N, O, Mg, Si, P, and S, in single-cell organisms that can be collected directly from the sea. We analysed the elemental composition of dinoflagellates and diatoms (largely Chaetoceros spp.) collected from different sites of the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean Sea). As expected, a lower C content is found in our cells compared to historical values of cultured cells. Our results indicate that, except for Si and O in diatoms, the mass of all elements is not a constant fraction of cell volume but rather decreases with increasing cell volume. Also, diatoms are significantly less dense in all the measured elements, except Si, compared to dinoflagellates. The N:P ratio of both groups is higher than the Redfield ratio, as it is the N:P nutrient ratio in deep NW Mediterranean Sea waters (N:P = 20â23). The results suggest that the P requirement is highest for bacterioplankton, followed by dinoflagellates, and lowest for diatoms, giving them a clear ecological advantage in P-limited environments like the Mediterranean Sea. Finally, the P concentration of cells of the same genera but growing under different nutrient conditions was the same, suggesting that the P quota of these cells is at a critical level. Our results indicate that XRMA is an accurate technique to determine single cell elemental quotas and derived conversion factors used to understand and model ocean biogeochemical cycles
The diversity of odonata and their endophytic ovipositions from the upper oligocene fossillagerstÀtte of rott (Rhineland, Germany)
A commented list of fossil Odonata from the Oligocene outcrop of Rott is given, together with descriptions of new traces of oviposition in plant tissues, very similar to ichnotaxa already known from the early Eocene Laguna del Hunco floras of Patagonia. The joint presences of odonatan larvae and traces of oviposition demonstrate the autochthony of these insects in the palaeolake of Rott, confirming the existence of a diverse and abundant aquatic entomofauna, a situation strikingly different to that in the contemporaneous Oligocene palaeolake of CĂ©reste (France).Fil: Petrulevicius, Julian Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. DivisiĂłn PaleozoologĂa Invertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Wappler, Torsten. Universitat Bonn; AlemaniaFil: Nel, AndrĂ©. MusĂ©um National d'Histoire Naturelle; FranciaFil: Rust, Jes. Universitat Bonn; Alemani
A unique, large-sized stem Odonata (Insecta) found in the early Pennsylvanian of New Brunswick (Canada)
A stem relative of dragon- and damselflies,
Brunellopteron norradi BĂ©thoux, Deregnaucourt and Norrad gen. et sp. nov., is documented
based on a specimen found at Robertson Point (Grand Lake, New Brunswick,
Canada; Sunbury Creek Formation; early Moscovian, Pennsylvanian) and
preserving the basal half of a hindwing. A comparative analysis of the
evolution of wing venation in early odonates demonstrates that it belongs to
a still poorly documented subset of species. Specifically, it displays a
MPâ+âCuA fusion, a CuAâ+âCuP fusion, and a CuPâ+âAA fusion, but it lacks the
âextendedâ MPâ+âCuâ/âCuA fusion and the âextendedâ (CuPâ/âCuAâ+âCuP)â+âAA fusion,
the occurrence of which is typical of most Odonata, including Meganeura-like species. The
occurrence of intercalary veins suggests that its closest relative might be
Gallotypus oudardi Nel, Garrouste and Roques, 2008, from the Moscovian of northern France.</p
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