The diet of Saker Falcon Falco cherrug overwintering in the Mediterranean (Sicily)

The winter diet of Saker Falcon Falco cherrug in the Mediterranean basin is unknown. Thanks to satellite tracking of two individuals from Hungary to Sicily, during winters 2012-13 and 2013-14 we identified the roost and collected 40 pellets. Pellet analysis allowed identification of 124 prey belonging to 29 taxa. Saker Falcons during winter shift their alimentation to insects and birds, with respect to mammals in the breeding season, plundering from small beetles to rabbits. Insects, especially Orthoptera and Coleoptera, were the most frequent prey in both years, totalling the 66.9% of remains. Among vertebrates the Saker Falcons preyed upon birds (21.77%), mammals (5.65%) and reptiles (4.84%). The Rock Dove plus Feral Pigeons are the key-species of winter diet, representing the 45.78% of biomass ingested in the two years. Agricultural intensification and land abandonment is rapidly changing steppe-like habitats of Mediterranean, and negatively affecting most potential prey of Saker Falcons. Conservation of this globally threatened species should consider also anthropogenic pressures outside the breeding range, and implement agri-environment schemes in the more suitable wintering grounds

Mozambique's Future: Modeling Population and Sustainable Development Challenges

What are the prospects for sustainable development over the next 20 years in Mozambique? Although it looks as if much of the development prospects are determined by such inherently unpredictable events as war, peace, and weather calamities, there are also many changes and patterns which have a long-term stability and which change only slowly over time. For example, socio-demographic changes, such as labor force skills, and population health have a long momentum. These are very important indicators for the economic development potential of a country. Also, although it is impossible to predict a particular year of heavy rains or droughts, there are long time series of weather from which we can calculate the country's vulnerability to single- or multiple-year weather disasters. To focus our efforts in answering this bold question, we concentrate on four issues: (1) Can poverty be erased in the next 20 years? (2) How will school enrollment lead to higher skills in the labor force by 2020? (3) What role will water play in development, in particular, water provision by rain to rural areas, and infrastructure to cities? (4) And, most importantly, what will be the impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the next decades

Noble gas constraints on the fate of arsenic in groundwater

Groundwater contamination of geogenic arsenic (As) remains a global health threat, particularly in south-east Asia. The prominent correlation often observed between high As concentrations and methane (CH$_{4}$) stimulated the analysis of the gas dynamics in an As contaminated aquifer, whereby noble and reactive gases were analysed. Results show a progressive depletion of atmospheric gases (Ar, Kr and N$_{2}$) alongside highly increasing CH$_{4}$, implying that a free gas phase comprised mainly of CH$_{4}$ is formed within the aquifer. In contrast, Helium (He) concentrations are high within the CH$_{4}$ (gas) producing zone, suggesting longer (groundwater) residence times. We hypothesized that the observed free (CH$_{4}$) gas phase severely detracts local groundwater (flow) and significantly reduces water renewal within the gas producing zone. Results are in-line with this hypothesis, however, a second hypothesis has been developed, which focuses on the potential transport of He from an adjacent aquitard into the (CH$_{4}$) gas producing zone. This second hypothesis was formulated as it resolves the particularly high He concentrations observed, and since external solute input from the overlying heterogeneous aquitard cannot be excluded. The proposed feedback between the gas phase and hydraulics provides a plausible explanation of the anti-intuitive correlation between high As and CH$_{4}$, and the spatially highly patchy distribution of dissolved As concentrations in contaminated aquifers. Furthermore, the increased groundwater residence time would allow for the dissolution of more crystalline As-hosting iron(Fe)-oxide phases in conjunction with the formation of more stable secondary Fe minerals in the hydraulically-slowed (i.e., gas producing) zone; a subject which calls for further investigation

Composition and activity of nitrifier communities in soil are unresponsive to elevated temperature and CO2, but strongly affected by drought

Nitrification is a fundamental process in terrestrial nitrogen cycling. However, detailed information on how climate change affects the structure of nitrifier communities is lacking, specifically from experiments in which multiple climate change factors are manipulated simultaneously. Consequently, our ability to predict how soil nitrogen (N) cycling will change in a future climate is limited. We conducted a field experiment in a managed grassland and simultaneously tested the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2, temperature, and drought on the abundance of active ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA), comammox (CMX) Nitrospira, and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), and on gross mineralization and nitrification rates. We found that N transformation processes, as well as gene and transcript abundances, and nitrifier community composition were remarkably resistant to individual and interactive effects of elevated CO2 and temperature. During drought however, process rates were increased or at least maintained. At the same time, the abundance of active AOB increased probably due to higher NH4+ availability. Both, AOA and comammox Nitrospira decreased in response to drought and the active community composition of AOA and NOB was also significantly affected. In summary, our findings suggest that warming and elevated CO2 have only minor effects on nitrifier communities and soil biogeochemical variables in managed grasslands, whereas drought favors AOB and increases nitrification rates. This highlights the overriding importance of drought as a global change driver impacting on soil microbial community structure and its consequences for N cycling

Influence of Endurance Training During Childhood on Total Hemoglobin Mass

Elite endurance athletes are characterized by markedly increased hemoglobin mass (Hbmass). It has been hypothesized that this adaptation may occur as a response to training at a very young age. Therefore, the aim of this study was to monitor changes in Hbmass in children aged 8–14 years following systematic endurance training. In the first study, Hbmass, VO2max, and lean body mass (LBM) were measured in 17 endurance-trained children (13 boys and 4 girls; aged 9.7 ± 1.3 years; training history 1.5±1.8 years; training volume 3.5 ± 1.6 h) twice a year for up to 3.5 years. The same parameters were measured once in a control group of 18 age-matched untrained children. Hbmass and blood volume (BV) were measured using the optimized CO-rebreathing technique, VO2max by an incremental test on a treadmill, and LBM by skin-fold measurements. In the second pilot study, the same parameters were measured in 9 young soccer athletes (aged 7.8 ± 0.2 years), and results were assessed in relation to soccer performance 2.5 years later. The increase in mean Hbmass during the period of study was 50% which was closely related to changes in LBM (r = 0.959). A significant impact of endurance training on Hbmass was observed in athletes exercising more than 4 h/week [+25.4 g compared to the group with low training volume (<2 h/week)]. The greatest effects were related to LBM (11.4 g·kg−1 LBM) and overlapped with the effects of age. A strong relationship was present between absolute Hbmass and VO2max (r = 0.939), showing that an increase of 1 g hemoglobin increases VO2max by 3.6 ml·min−1. Study 2 showed a positive correlation between Hbmass and soccer performance 2.5 years later at age 10.3 ± 0.3 years (r = 0.627, p = 0.035). In conclusion, children with a weekly training volume of more than 4 h show a 7% higher Hbmass than untrained children. Although this training effect is significant and independent of changes in LBM, the major factor driving the increase in Hbmass is still LBM

Toward a more sustainable mining future with electrokinetic in situ leaching

This is the final version. Available on open access from AAAS via the DOI in this recordData and materials availability: All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials. Additional data related to this paper may be requested from the authors.Metals are currently almost exclusively extracted from their ore via physical excavation. This energy-intensive process dictates that metal mining remains among the foremost CO2 emitters and mine waste is the single largest waste form by mass. We propose a new approach, electrokinetic in situ leaching (EK-ISL), and demonstrate its applicability for a Cu-bearing sulfidic porphyry ore. In laboratory-scale experiments, Cu recovery was rapid (up to 57 weight % after 94 days) despite low ore hydraulic conductivity (permeability = 6.1 mD; porosity = 10.6%). Multiphysics numerical model simulations confirm the feasibility of EK-ISL at the field scale. This new approach to mining is therefore poised to spearhead a new paradigm of metal recovery from currently inaccessible ore bodies with a markedly reduced environmental footprint.Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia (MRIWA

The Wellesley News (12-01-1966)

https://repository.wellesley.edu/wcnews/1090/thumbnail.jp

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