Compensating freshwater habitat loss-duck productivity and food resources in man-made wetlands

Correction Volume 68 Issue 3 Article Number39 DOI 10.1007/s10344-022-01591-w Published JUN 2022The number of wetlands in Europe decreased by more than 60% by the 1990s compared with the beginning of the twentieth century. Man-made wetlands may be an effective way to compensate for the loss and degradation of freshwater ecosystems. This loss impacts the populations of declining duck species, partly due to a lack of suitable breeding opportunities. In this study, we evaluated duck productivity and invertebrate abundance in 13 man-made Finnish wetlands that were created for waterbirds. Our findings revealed that man-made wetlands have higher duck production than average natural boreal lakes. High invertebrate levels were a key factor that positively correlated with duck pair density, brood density, duckling density of the common teal (Anas crecca), and duck density during the post-breeding period. Our results suggest that man-made wetlands are a useful tool for increasing duck productivity. For upholding this status in the long term, appropriate management should involve maintaining sufficient invertebrate levels.Peer reviewe

Brain responses to sound intensity changes in aging and in depression

Sekä ikääntymisen että masennuksen on osoitettu olevan yhteydessä heikentyneeseen serotoniinijärjestelmän toimintaan, mikä voi heijastua aivojen automaattisen kykyyn käsitellä äänten voimakkuuksia. Äänen voimakkuuden muutoksiin syntyvien aivovasteiden tutkiminen voikin antaa tietoa niin ikääntymiseen kuin masennukseenkin liittyvästä perustavanlaatuisesta aistitiedon käsittelystä ja välittäjäainetoiminnasta. Kuitenkaan ikääntyneillä masentuneilla aivojen automaattista kykyä käsitellä äänten voimakkuuksia ei ole aiemmin tutkittu. Toteutimme elektroenkefalografiatutkimuksen (EEG) tarkastellaksemme aivojen automaattista kykyä käsitellä äänten voimakkuuksia nuorilla ei-masentuneilla (n=18, ikä 19–38), nuorilla masentuneilla (n=17, ikä 18–40), ikääntyneillä ei-masentuneilla (n=16, ikä 63–80) ja ikääntyneillä masentuneilla (n=20, ikä 62–76). Tutkimuksessa hyödynnettiin passiivista muutoksenhavaitsemistilanne-koeasetelmaa N1-, MMN- ja P3a–vasteiden tutkimiseen. Muutoksenhavaitsemistilanne-koeasetelma koostui kahdesta koesarjasta: toisessa koesarjassa oli toistettujen voimakkaiden äänten (80 dB) joukossa harvoin esiintyviä hiljaisia ääniä (60 dB), ja toisessa koesarjassa ärsyketyyppien voimakkuudet olivat päinvastaiset. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat ikääntymisen ja ikääntyneiden masennuksen liittyvän suurentuneisiin N1-amplitudeihin koesarjassa, jossa toistuvana ärsykkeenä oli hiljainen ääni (60 dB) ja harvoin esiintyvänä ärsykkeenä oli voimakas ääni (80 dB). Tämä saattaa viitata ikääntyneiden ja ikääntyneiden masentuneiden heikentyneeseen ärsykepiirteiden varhaiseen koodaamiseen, inhibitiovaikeuksiin sekä heikentyneeseen serotoniinijärjestelmän toimintaan. Lisäksi P3a-vasteet harvoin esiintyviin ärsykkeisiin olivat negatiivisesti yhteydessä masennusoireita mittaaviin pistemääriin (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI), viitaten heikentyneeseen tarkkaavuuden suuntaamiseen masennuksessa. Tulevaisuudessa tuloksia voidaan mahdollisesti hyödyntää masennuksen diagnostiikassa ja masennuksen hoitomuotojen suunnittelussa.Both aging and depression have been associated to serotonergic dysfunction, which can be reflected by sound intensity processing of the brain. Therefore investigating brain responses to sound intensity changes can create understanding of basic sensory information processing and neurotransmission in aging and depression. However, sound intensity processing in old age depression has not been studied earlier. We conducted an electroencephalography (EEG) study to investigate sound intensity processing in young non-depressed adults (n=18, age 19-38), young depressed adults (n=17, age 18-40), aged non-depressed adults (n=16, age 63-80) and aged depressed adults (n=20, age 62-76). Passive oddball paradigm was used for inspecting N1, MMN and P3a responses. The oddball paradigm consisted of two conditions: low intensity condition with infrequently presented silent sounds (60 dB) among frequently presented loud sounds (80 dB), and high intensity condition with reversed intensities. The results showed increased N1 amplitudes in high intensity condition related to aging and old age depression. This indicates impaired stimulus encoding but also possible serotonergic dysfunction and inhibition deficits in aging and in old age depression. Moreover, negative correlation between P3a responses to infrequent sounds and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores was found in depressed participants, suggesting impaired orientation of attention related to depression. The results can possibly be utilized in future in diagnostics and in prediction of the treatment for depression

Rakennetut kosteikot sorsien ja kahlaajien pesimäympäristönä Suomessa

Peer reviewe

Event-Related Potentials to Changes in Sound Intensity Demonstrate Alterations in Brain Function Related to Depression and Aging

Measures of the brain’s automatic electrophysiological responses to sounds represent a potential tool for identifying age- and depression-related neural markers. However, these markers have rarely been studied related to aging and depression within one study. Here, we investigated auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in the brain that may show different alterations related to aging and depression. We used an oddball condition employing changes in sound intensity to investigate: (i) sound intensity dependence; (ii) sensory gating; and (iii) change detection, all within a single paradigm. The ERPs of younger (18–40 years) and older (62–80 years) depressed female participants and age-matched non-depressed participants were measured. Intensity dependence was examined as the difference between N1 responses to repeated high- and low-intensity sounds, sensory gating as N1 responses to rare and repeated sounds, and change detection as indexed by the mismatch negativity (MMN). We found that intensity dependence was greater in older participants than younger ones, indicating effects related to aging but not to depression. For sensory gating, we found depression- and age-related alterations as increased N1 responses. No group differences were found for MMN. Although a sensory gating deficit was expected in older adults, this study is the first to demonstrate age-related overexcitability in sound intensity dependency. The results indicate that automatic brain responses to sound intensity changes are suitable for studying age- and depression-related neural markers but may not be sensitive enough to differentiate the effects of aging and depression.peerReviewe