Cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in Polish freshwater bodies.

In this work, the authors examined the presence of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in 21 samples collected from fresh water bodies located in 5 provinces in Poland: Lublin (2), Podlasie (1), Pomerania (6), Warmia-Masuria (1) and Wielkopolska (11). In addition, to determine the general pattern of geographical distribution, frequency of cyanobacteria occurrence, and cyanotoxins production, the published data from 238 fresh water bodies in Poland were reviewed. On the basis of these collected results, we concluded that Planktothrix, Aphanizomenon, Microcystis and Dolichospermum were dominant. The general pattern in geographical distribution of the identified cyanobacterial genera was typical of other eutrophic waters in Europe. The production of cyanotoxins was revealed in 18 (86%) of the 21 samples analyzed in the present work and in 74 (75%) of the 98 total water bodies for which the presence of toxins had been examined. Among the 24 detected microcystin variants, [Asp3]MC-RR was most common. These results can be verified when more data from the less explored water bodies in the southern and eastern parts of Poland are available.The authors would like to acknowledge the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, COST Action ES 1105 "CYANOCOST- Cyanobacterial blooms and toxins in water resources: Occurrence, impacts and management" for adding value to this study through networking and knowledge sharing with European experts and researchers in the field.42435837

Slaughter weight rather than sex affects carcass cuts and tissue composition of Bisaro pigs

Carcass cuts and tissue composition were assessed in Bisaro pigs (n=64) from two sexes (31 gilts and 33 entire males) reared until three target slaughter body-weights (BW) means: 17 kg, 32 kg, and 79 kg. Dressing percentage and backfat thickness increased whereas carcass shrinkage decreased with increasing BW. Slaughter weight affected most of the carcass cut proportions, except shoulder and thoracic regions. Bone proportion decreased linearly with increasing slaughter BW, while intermuscular and subcutaneous adipose tissue depots increased concomitantly. Slaughter weight increased the subcutaneous adipose tissue proportion but this impaired intramuscular and intermuscular adipose tissues in the loin primal. The sex of the pigs minimally affected the carcass composition, as only the belly weight and the subcutaneous adipose tissue proportions were greater in gilts than in entire males. Light pigs regardless of sex are recommended to balance the trade-offs between carcass cuts and their non-edible compositional outcomes.Work included in the Portuguese PRODER research Project BISOPORC – Pork extensive production of Bísara breed, in two alternative systems: fattening on concentrate vs chesnut, Project PRODER SI I&DT Medida 4.1 “Cooperação para a Inovação”. The authors are grateful to Laboratory of Carcass and Meat Quality of Agriculture School of Polytechnic Institute of Bragança ‘Cantinho do Alfredo’. The authors are members of the MARCARNE network, funded by CYTED (ref. 116RT0503).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Data Descriptor : A European Multi Lake Survey dataset of environmental variables, phytoplankton pigments and cyanotoxins

Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-change induced stressors, like poor transparency, increased water temperature and enhanced stratification. Consistency in data collection and analysis methods is necessary to achieve fully comparable datasets and for statistical validity, avoiding issues linked to disparate data sources. The European Multi Lake Survey (EMLS) in summer 2015 was an initiative among scientists from 27 countries to collect and analyse lake physical, chemical and biological variables in a fully standardized manner. This database includes in-situ lake variables along with nutrient, pigment and cyanotoxin data of 369 lakes in Europe, which were centrally analysed in dedicated laboratories. Publishing the EMLS methods and dataset might inspire similar initiatives to study across large geographic areas that will contribute to better understanding lake responses in a changing environment.Peer reviewe

Stratification strength and light climate explain variation in chlorophyll a at the continental scale in a European multilake survey in a heatwave summer

To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and total nitrogen [TN] = 0.7 mg L−1), and its subsets (2 depth types and 3 climatic zones), show that light climate and stratification strength were the most significant explanatory variables for chlorophyll a (Chl a) variance. TN was a significant predictor for phytoplankton biomass for shallow and continental lakes, while TP never appeared as an explanatory variable, suggesting that under high TP, light, which partially controls stratification strength, becomes limiting for phytoplankton development. Mediterranean lakes were the warmest yet most weakly stratified and had significantly less Chl a than Boreal lakes, where the temperature anomaly from the long-term average, during a summer heatwave was the highest (+4°C) and showed a significant, exponential relationship with stratification strength. This European survey represents a summer snapshot of phytoplankton biomass and its drivers, and lends support that light and stratification metrics, which are both affected by climate change, are better predictors for phytoplankton biomass in nutrient-rich lakes than nutrient concentrations and surface temperature

Struktura gatunkowa fitoplanktonu w cyklu rocznym w stawach Duzym i Malym [Park Solacki, Poznan]

Seasonal variations of the phytoplankton community followed, from December 1999 to November 2000, in two small ponds located within the Sołacki Park (Poznan, western Poland). In the collected material 208 (among them green algae constituted nearly half) species were identified and phytoplankton communities in both ponds are characterized by similar composition (similarity coefficient = 78.73%). The phytoplankton was dominated by diatoms, which were more abundant than blue-greens and green algae. Major dominants in the quantities were algae of the genera Cryptomonas, Cyclotella, Fragilaria, Gloeocapsa, Jaaginema, Limnothrix, Monoraphidium and Sphaerocystis. With greater stability of the water column and higher temperatures of water in the end of summer period the domination of blue-green algae was noted. During 1999- 2000 the phytoplankton biomass ranges were 0.073-75.641 mg/l in the DuGy Pond and 0.707- 39.005 mg/l in the Mały Pond