Environmental DNA metabarcoding provides enhanced detection of the European eel Anguilla anguilla and fish community structure in pumped river catchments

© 2020 Fisheries Society of the British Isles The European eel Anguilla anguilla (eel hereafter) is critically endangered and has a catadromous life cycle, which means adult eels that live in pumped catchments must pass through pumps during their downstream spawning migration. Policy makers are currently lacking detailed site-by-site eel distribution information to estimate the overall impact of individual pumping stations on eel escapement, and as such lack the data to enable informed prioritisation of pumping station management and targeted mitigation. This study investigated whether environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding can provide increased detection sensitivity for eel and fish community structure in highly regulated pumped catchments, when compared directly to current standard practice fish survey protocols (seine netting/electric fishing). Eels were detected in 14 of 17 sites (82.4%) using eDNA metabarcoding in contrast to 3 of 17 sites (17.6%) using traditional catch methods. In addition, when using eDNA monitoring, species richness was higher in 16 of 17 sites (94.1%), and site occupancy was greater than or equal to traditional methods for 23 of 26 of the fish species detected (88.5%). Although eDNA methods presented significantly higher average species richness and species site occupancy overall, eDNA and catch methods were positively correlated in terms of species richness and site occupancy. It was therefore found that eDNA metabarcoding was a high-sensitivity method for detecting eels in pumped catchments while also increasing the detection of overall fish community structure compared to traditional catch methods. In addition, this study highlights how eDNA monitoring is especially suited to increase the detection of particular species, with traditional methods sufficient for others. This high sensitivity, coupled with the ability to sample multiple sites in a short time frame, suggests that eDNA metabarcoding workflows could be invaluable tools when prioritising pumping station management

Contrasting vertical and horizontal representations of affect in emotional visual search

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ 10.3758/s13423-015-0884-6Independent lines of evidence suggest that the representation of emotional evaluation recruits both vertical and horizontal spatial mappings. These two spatial mappings differ in their experiential origins and their productivity, and available data suggest that they differ in their saliency. Yet, no study has so far compared their relative strength in an attentional orienting reaction time task that affords the simultaneous manifestation of both of them. Here we investigated this question using a visual search task with emotional faces. We presented angry and happy face targets and neutral distracter faces in top, bottom, left, and right locations on the computer screen. Conceptual congruency effects were observed along the vertical dimension supporting the ‘up=good’ metaphor, but not along the horizontal dimension. This asymmetrical processing pattern was observed when faces were presented in a cropped (Experiment 1) and whole (Experiment 2) format. These findings suggest that the ‘up=good’ metaphor is more salient and readily activated than the ‘right=good’ metaphor, and that the former outcompetes the latter when the task context affords the simultaneous activation of both mappings

In vitro antibacterial activity of some plant essential oils

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the antibacterial activity of 21 plant essential oils against six bacterial species. METHODS: The selected essential oils were screened against four gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris) and two gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus at four different concentrations (1:1, 1:5, 1:10 and 1:20) using disc diffusion method. The MIC of the active essential oils were tested using two fold agar dilution method at concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 25.6 mg/ml. RESULTS: Out of 21 essential oils tested, 19 oils showed antibacterial activity against one or more strains. Cinnamon, clove, geranium, lemon, lime, orange and rosemary oils exhibited significant inhibitory effect. Cinnamon oil showed promising inhibitory activity even at low concentration, whereas aniseed, eucalyptus and camphor oils were least active against the tested bacteria. In general, B. subtilis was the most susceptible. On the other hand, K. pneumoniae exhibited low degree of sensitivity. CONCLUSION: Majority of the oils showed antibacterial activity against the tested strains. However Cinnamon, clove and lime oils were found to be inhibiting both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Cinnamon oil can be a good source of antibacterial agents

Wet-WAG, un jeu de rôle pour aider le dialogue entre acteurs autour de la gestion des zones humides

The GaMampa wetland, like many small scale wetlands in Southern Africa is threatened by human activity. In the last ten years, due to agriculture pressure, the natural vegetation has decreased to occupy less than 20% of the wetland area. Moreover, the agricultural practices are harmful for the wetland health and are degrading the soil organic matter. The Wet-WAG role-playing game created by Cemagref under the WETwin European project aims at providing the basis for discussions among stakeholders, and raising their awareness on wetland management stakes. After a brief presentation of the case-study and a literature review on the use of role-playing games for natural resources management, the report describes the game development process. Wet-WAG is based on the generic platform WAG, developed by Cemagref and Cirad for the participative management of water resources at catchment level. Existing research reports on the case study were used to calibrate the game. Several methods were mobilized to integrate inputs from the widest range of stakeholders (focus group discussions in GaMampa, and interviews of provincial government representatives). Several testing sessions were organised with researchers, students and local farmers. The report then describes the elements of the game (board, role cards, activity cards, monitoring sheets) and relates a typical game session. Improvements brought to the initial version of the game are detailed. Directions for further improvements and recommendations for future use of the game are suggested in conclusion

Wet-WAG, un jeu de rôle pour aider au dialogue entre acteurs sur la gestion des zones humides

The Ga-Mampa wetland, like many small scale wetlands in Southern Africa is threatened by human activity. In the last ten years, due to agriculture pressure, the natural vegetation has decreased to occupy less than 20% of the wetland area. Moreover, the agricultural practices are harmful for the wetland health and are degrading the soil organic matter. The Wet-WAG role-playing game created by Irstea under the WETwin European project aims at providing the basis for discussions among stakeholders, and raising their awareness on wetland management stakes. After a brief presentation of the case-study and a literature review on the use of role-playing games for natural resources management, the report describes the game development process. Wet-WAG is based on the generic platform WAG, developed by Cemagref (now Irstea) and Cirad for the participative management of water resources at catchment level. Existing research reports on the case study were used to calibrate the game. Several methods were mobilized to integrate inputs from the widest range of stakeholders (focus group discussions in Ga-Mampa, and interviews of provincial government representatives). Several testing sessions were organised with researchers, students and local farmers. The report then describes the elements of the game (board, role cards, activity cards, monitoring sheets) and relates a typical game session. Improvements brought to the initial version of the game are detailed. The use of Wet-WAG infor the participatory assessment of wetland management solutions is described and main outcomes presented. Directions for further improvements and recommendations for future use of the game and adaptations to other case studies are suggested in conclusion