Competition Drives Clumpy Species Coexistence in Estuarine Phytoplankton

Understanding the mechanisms that maintain biodiversity is a fundamental problem in ecology. Competition is thought to reduce diversity, but hundreds of microbial aquatic primary producers species coexist and compete for a few essential resources (e.g., nutrients and light). Here, we show that resource competition is a plausible mechanism for explaining clumpy distribution on individual species volume (a proxy for the niche) of estuarine phytoplankton communities ranging from North America to South America and Europe, supporting the Emergent Neutrality hypothesis. Furthermore, such a clumpy distribution was also observed throughout the Holocene in diatoms from a sediment core. A Lotka-Volterra competition model predicted position in the niche axis and functional affiliation of dominant species within and among clumps. Results support the coexistence of functionally equivalent species in ecosystems and indicate that resource competition may be a key process to shape the size structure of estuarine phytoplankton, which in turn drives ecosystem functioning

Preliminary assessment of beaches and offshore sand resources of St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles : a report to the Government of St. Eustatius

Objectives: A pilot study was undertaken in July 1988 to: 1. Provide an estimate of the location and size of offshore sand resources suitable for beach nourishment. 2. Perform beach surveys and associated sampling for determining beach equilibrium configurations. 3. Provide a preliminary assessment of sites suitable for beach enhancement. 4. Provide a preliminary assessment of areas having extraordinary environmental sensitivity. Emphasis was given.to Oranje Baai and adjoining regions

Variabilidade do sistema praia-dunas frontais para o litoral norte do Rio Grande do Sul (Palmares do Sul a Torres, Brasil) com o auxílio do Light Detection and Ranging – Lidar

Morphometric and geological parameters such as coastline orientation, wind drif potential, subaerial beach slope and width and mean grain size are crucial to the geomorphology of the beach-dune system. Surveys on the northern coast of the Rio Grande do Sul (RS) through the laser scanner system provided major morphometric parameters quickly and accurately without the need for in situ surveys. The lateral variability of these parameters and their association with geological features were analyzed through cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling for the beach sectors along 123 km between the balnearies of Palmares do Sul and Torres defining four affinity groups. The variables that contributed most to the differentiation of the groups were: width of the subaerial beach, wind drift potential, coastline azimuth and percentage of medium sand. Groups 1 and 4, located further south of the study area, have beaches with wider sub aerial beach profiles, wind drift potential, volume change above the datum, and have the lowest azimuths of the shoreline. Group 1 displays the highest volume and height of the foredunes. The lower volume of the foredunes are associated to group 3, which displays the higher azimuth of the shoreline implying in a almost parallel wind to the coastline which reflect in a low wind drift potential. Group 2 shows values of subaerial beach width similar to group 3, but displays a greater foredune volume and height being these differences explained by its lower coastline azimuth. The variables width of the subaerial beach, wind drift potential and coastline azimuth associated with the beach mean grain size are important factors to explain the variability of the foredunes along the northern coast of the RS.Parâmetros morfométricos e geológicos, como orientação da linha de costa, potencial de deriva de vento, declividade e largura da praia subaérea, percentual de areia média e tamanho mé- dio do grão, são determinantes para a geomorfologia do sistema praia-duna frontal. Levantamentos feitos no litoral norte do Rio Grande do Sul (RS) através do sistema laser scanner permitiram a obtenção contínua dos principais parâmetros morfométricos, de forma rápida e precisa, sem a necessidade de levantamentos em campo. A variabilidade lateral desses parâmetros e sua associa- ção com as características geológicas foram consideradas para um setor de praia de 123 km entre Palmares do Sul e Torres através de análises cluster e escalonamento multidimensional, as quais definiram quatro grupos de afinidade. As variáveis que mais contribuíram para a diferenciação dos grupos foram: largura da praia subaérea, potencial de deriva de vento, azimute da linha de costa e percentual de areia média. Os grupos 1 e 4, situados mais ao sul da área de estudo, possuem balneá- rios com maior largura da praia subaérea, potencial de deriva de vento e variação de volume acima do datum, e apresentam os menores azimutes da linha de costa. O grupo 1 mostra o maior volume de perfil e altura das dunas frontais. O menor volume de perfil pertence ao grupo 3, consequência do maior azimute da linha de costa, responsável pela entrada quase paralela do vento dominante no sistema praia-duna e menor potencial de deriva de vento. O grupo 2 é caracterizado por valores de largura da praia subaérea semelhante ao grupo 3, porém possui maior volume de perfil e altura das dunas frontais. Essas diferenças podem ser explicadas pelo menor azimute da linha de costa do grupo 2. As variáveis largura da praia subaérea, potencial de deriva de vento e azimute da linha de costa e as características granulométricas da praia são fundamentais para explicar a variabilidade das dunas frontais no litoral norte do RS

The Clumping Transition in Niche Competition: a Robust Critical Phenomenon

We show analytically and numerically that the appearance of lumps and gaps in the distribution of n competing species along a niche axis is a robust phenomenon whenever the finiteness of the niche space is taken into account. In this case depending if the niche width of the species $\sigma$ is above or below a threshold $\sigma_c$, which for large n coincides with 2/n, there are two different regimes. For $\sigma > sigma_c$ the lumpy pattern emerges directly from the dominant eigenvector of the competition matrix because its corresponding eigenvalue becomes negative. For $\sigma </- sigma_c$ the lumpy pattern disappears. Furthermore, this clumping transition exhibits critical slowing down as $\sigma$ is approached from above. We also find that the number of lumps of species vs. $\sigma$ displays a stair-step structure. The positions of these steps are distributed according to a power-law. It is thus straightforward to predict the number of groups that can be packed along a niche axis and it coincides with field measurements for a wide range of the model parameters.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures; http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-5468/2010/05/P0500

Community fluctuations and local extinction in a planktonic food web

Determining statistical patterns irrespective of interacting agents (i.e. macroecology) is useful to explore the mechanisms driving population fluctuations and extinctions in natural food webs. Here,we tested four predictions of a neutral model on the distribution of community fluctuations (CF)and the distributions of persistence times (APT). Novel predictions for the food web were generated by combining (1) body size–density scaling, (2) Taylor’s law and (3) low efficiency of trophic transference.Predictions were evaluated on an exceptional data set of plankton with 15 years of weekly samples encompassing c. 250 planktonic species from three trophic levels, sampled in the western English Channel. Highly symmetric non-Gaussian distributions of CF support zero-sum dynamics.Variability in CF decreased while a change from an exponential to a power law distribution of APT from basal to upper trophic positions was detected. Results suggest a predictable but profound effect of trophic position on fluctuations and extinction in natural communities

Immunohistochemical analysis of cytoskeleton and ubiquitin in cerebellum of poisoned cattle by Solanum bonariense

El Solanum bonariense L., es un arbusto perenne, autóctono en Uruguay, Argentina y sur de Brasil. Al ser ingerido por los bovinos en pastoreo, les ocasiona una degeneración cortical cerebelosa, afectando específicamente a las células de Purkinje. Estas presentan el pericario extensamente vacuolado con desplazamiento del núcleo, con progresiva muerte neuronal. En los axones de estas neuronas se observa presencia de esferoides axonales en la sustancia blanca cerebelosa, que finalmente son sustituidos por microcavitaciones en la sustancia blanca. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue describir el patrón de inmunoreactividad contra diferentes elementos del citoesqueleto y la ubiquitina conjugada a proteínas marcadas para degradarse dentro de las células de Purkinje de cerebelos de bovinos intoxicados natural o experimentalmente por ingestión de Solanum bonariense L.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Imaging of the Inner Zone of Blast Furnaces Using MuonRadiography: The BLEMAB Project

The aim of the BLEMAB project (BLast furnace stack density Estimation through online Muons ABsorption measurements) is the application of muon radiography techniques, to image a blast furnace’s inner zone. In particular, the goal of the study is to characterize the geometry and size of the so-called “cohesive zone”, i.e., the spatial region where the slowly downward-moving material begins to soften and melt, which plays such an important role in the performance of the blast furnace itself. Thanks to the high penetration power of natural cosmic-ray muon radiation, muon transmission radiography could be an appropriate non invasive methodology for the imaging of large high-density structures such as a blast furnace, whose linear dimensions can be up to a few tens of meters. A state-of-the-art muon tracking system is currently in development and will be installed at a blast furnace on the ArcelorMittal site in Bremen (Germany), where it will collect data for a period of various months. In this paper, the status of the project and the expectations based on preliminary simulations are presented and briefly discussed

The BLEMAB European project: Muon radiography as an imaging tool in the industrial field

The European project called BLEMAB (BLast furnace stack density Estimation through on-line Muons ABsorption measurements), provides for the application of the muon radiography technique in the industrial environment. The project represents a non-invasive way of monitoring a blast furnace and in particular aims to study the geometric and density development of the so-called “cohesive zone”, which is important for the performance of the blast furnace itself. The installation of the detectors is expected in 2022 at the ArcelorMittal site in Bremen (Germany). This paper describes the status of the project, the experimental setup and the first results obtained with preliminary simulations. © 2022 Societa Italiana di Fisica. All rights reserved