Global Scale Variation in the Salinity Sensitivity of Riverine Macroinvertebrates: Eastern Australia, France, Israel and South Africa

Salinity is a key abiotic property of inland waters; it has a major influence on biotic communities and is affected by many natural and anthropogenic processes. Salinity of inland waters tends to increase with aridity, and biota of inland waters may have evolved greater salt tolerance in more arid regions. Here we compare the sensitivity of stream macroinvertebrate species to salinity from a relatively wet region in France (Lorraine and Brittany) to that in three relatively arid regions eastern Australia (Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania), South Africa (south-east of the Eastern Cape Province) and Israel using the identical experimental method in all locations. The species whose salinity tolerance was tested, were somewhat more salt tolerant in eastern Australia and South Africa than France, with those in Israel being intermediate. However, by far the greatest source of variation in species sensitivity was between taxonomic groups (Order and Class) and not between the regions. We used a bayesian statistical model to estimate the species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) for salinity in eastern Australia and France adjusting for the assemblages of species in these regions. The assemblage in France was slightly more salinity sensitive than that in eastern Australia. We therefore suggest that regional salinity sensitivity is therefore likely to depend most on the taxonomic composition of respective macroinvertebrate assemblages. On this basis it would be possible to screen rivers globally for risk from salinisation

CARIDINA SPELUNCA, A NEW SPECIES OF FRESHWATER SHRIMP (CRUSTACEA DECAPODA ATYIDAE) FROM A WESTERN AUSTRALIAN CAVE

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Taxonomic revision of the Australian species of Australatya Chace 1983 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Atyidae), and the description of a new species

Choy, Satish, Page, Timothy J., Mos, Benjamin (2019): Taxonomic revision of the Australian species of Australatya Chace 1983 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Atyidae), and the description of a new species. Zootaxa 4711 (2): 366-378, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4711.2.

Safety of medium- to long-term glucocorticoid therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: a meta-analysis

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The macroinvertebrate fauna of an Australian dryland river: spatial and temporal patterns and environmental relationships

Waterholes within the dryland Cooper Creek, Lake Eyre Basin, Australia, are connected only during floods and are typically isolated for long periods. Spatial changes in the macroinvertebrate assemblages of 15 of these waterholes belonging to four regions were explored and these changes were related to environmental aspects of the waterholes measured at four spatial scales: floodplain, waterhole, within waterhole and sample habitat. To explore temporal patterns, one region was sampled on four occasions differing in time since connection. Spatial patterns were characterised by 'differentiation by distance' whereby samples collected closer to each other in the landscape were more similar in assemblage composition than those collected further apart. Thus, there were significant differences between the assemblages of the four regions. Although there was a correlation between macroinvertebrate spatial patterns and a combination of local habitat, geomorphology and water chemistry attributes, it appears unlikely that these variables were responsible for the faunal differentiation by distance. Temporal variability was larger than spatial variability and temporal assemblage patterns were best explained by the 'connectivity potential' of waterholes, reflecting the position of individual waterholes within the broader channel network and long-term connectivity relationships, rather than the actual time since hydrological connection.No Full Tex

Technological competencies and firm performance: Analyzing the importance of internal and external competencies

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between technological competencies (TC) and firm performance. Theoretically, the importance of TC is well established and widely accepted. Therefore, it is surprising that a number of empirical studies have been unable to confirm a substantial positive relationship between TC and firm performance. We identify two major reasons for this: [i] affected by the availability and choice of indicators existing studies are often biased towards large firms; and [ii] they frequently do not consider both internal and potential access to firm-external TC. This paper discusses conceptually the interplay between firm-internal and firm-external TC as well as the mediating effect of firm size. These relationships are then analyzed empirically using Swedish micro data on 15,682 firms in 290 Swedish municipalities. Novel indicators based on occupational statistics are combined with measures of time-distance accessibility to study internal and external TC. The results provide evidence for a positive relationship between firm growth and TC. In particular, the combination of firm-internal and firm-external competencies seems to be conducive for growth. Lastly, our study suggests that firm size is an important factor to further our understanding about these relationships. Based on this we identify a number of future research questions to be addressed

The taxonomic feedback loop: symbiosis of morphology and molecules

Here, we relate the ongoing taxonomic story of a species complex of problematic, cryptic Australian freshwater shrimp (Atyidae; Caridina) to highlight the relative strength and utility of different taxonomic methods in assessing species boundaries. We used popular ‘DNA barcode’ gene fragments cytochrome c oxidase 1 and 16S ribosomal DNA. We then assessed the morphological attributes of these specimens and developed an identification key to complement the molecular results, and conclude that, despite occasionally strident arguments in favour of either molecular or morphological taxonomy, the two are inseparably linked and form parts of a greater whole

Caridina malanda, a new species of freshwater shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda Atyidae) from the Wet Tropics World Heritage area, north-eastern Queensland Australia

Choy, Satish, Page, Timothy J., Mazancourt, Valentin De, Mos, Benjamin (2019): Caridina malanda, a new species of freshwater shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda Atyidae) from the Wet Tropics World Heritage area, north-eastern Queensland Australia. Zootaxa 4652 (1): 113-125, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4652.1.