Experimental evidence of dispersal of invasive cyprinid eggs inside migratory waterfowl

Fish have somehow colonized isolated water bodies all over the world without human assistance. It has long been speculated that these colonization events are assisted by waterbirds, transporting fish eggs attached to their feet and feathers, yet empirical support for this is lacking. Recently, it was suggested that endozoochory (i.e., internal transport within the gut) might play a more important role, but only highly resistant diapause eggs of killifish have been found to survive passage through waterbird guts. Here, we performed a controlled feeding experiment, where developing eggs of two cosmopolitan, invasive cyprinids (common carp, Prussian carp) were fed to captive mallards. Live embryos of both species were retrieved from fresh feces and survived beyond hatching. Our study identifies an overlooked dispersal mechanism in fish, providing evidence for bird-mediated dispersal ability of soft-membraned eggs undergoing active development. Only 0.2% of ingested eggs survived gut passage, yet, given the abundance, diet, and movements of ducks in nature, our results have major implications for biodiversity conservation and invasion dynamics in freshwater ecosystems.Peer reviewe

Optimalization of ceramic-based noble metal-free catalysts for CO oxidation reactions

In this study ceramic supported noble metal-free catalysts promoting the oxidation of CO were examined. In the course of our work several non-noble metal containing catalysts were prepared with different metal content by the well-known wet impreg- nation method and their catalytic activities were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) experiments in CO oxidation reaction. In addition to GC measurements, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, BET and X-ray photoelectron spectros- copy tests were also performed on our samples. During our work we found that cobalt-loaded silica-alumina-based ceramic supported catalyst proved to be the best in CO oxidation due to the high activity and durability with comparable activity with Pt-loaded counterpart

Nitrogen doped carbon aerogel composites with TiO2 and ZnO prepared by atomic layer deposition

l

Phosphorus-loaded alumina supported nickel catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation: Ni2P/Ni5P12 drives activity

A series of 5 wt% NiO-xP-Al2O3 with different phosphorus loading contents (x = 0, 5, 15 and 20 wt%) were prepared by a modified sol-gel method. A significant promotional effect of phosphorus on NiO-Al2O3 in CO2 hydrogenation is observed. All the catalysts reach the highest conversion at 600 °C with 61.54 %, 62.89 %, 63.88 % and 66.13 % respectively for 5 wt% NiO-Al2O3, 5 wt% NiO-5P-Al2O3, 5 wt% NiO-15P-Al2O3 and 5 wt% NiO20P-Al2O3 catalysts. Ni/NiO/Ni2P/Ni5P12/AlPO4 interfacial species were detected on the surface as active species on the used catalysts by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The formation ratio of the metal-phosphide is relatively low ∼3−5 %, and this atomic concentration is decreasing with the rising of the phosphate content. However, the nickel enrichment in the surface layer presumable in Ni2P/Ni5P12 form is very likely according to the P 2p spectra and the authors assume that could be responsible for the enhanced catalytic activity