Environmental lobbying as an instrument of expansion of public participation in decision-making in EU

З’ясовано сутність екологічного лобізму як напряму політичної діяльності; доведено необхідність збалансування різноспрямованих інтересів, коротко- і середньострокових соціальних та економічних вигод різних груп представників суспільства з потребами навколишнього середовища. Здійснено співставлення методів екологічного лобізму з головними методами чинення щодо цього тиску в політичній сфері. Аналізується досвід становлення та розвитку екологічного лобізму в Європейському Союзі. Досліджено головні групи інтересів і механізми їх впливу на формування екологічної політики на регіональному та національному рівнях. Розглянуто правове поле та головні інструменти, що використовуються екологічними лобістами в Україні; обгрунтовано головні завдання розвитку інституту екологічного лобізму з урахуванням позитивного досвіду зарубіжних країн. Дано рекомендації щодо унормування інституту лобізму та шляхів розширення впливу існуючих груп тиску на процес прийняття екозначущих рішень, підсилення їх потенціалу з урахуванням специфіки та особливостей ситуації в Україні.Essence of environmental lobbing as a trend of political activity is discussed. The necessity to balance the divergent interests of short- and medium-term social and economic benefits of different groups of representatives of society with the needs of the environment is proved. It is done comparing of methods of environmental lobbing with the main methods of pressure in this respect in political sphere. The experience of development of the environment lobbing in the European Union is analyzed. Main interest groups and mechanisms of their influence upon the environmental policy at the regional and national levels are discussed. It is analyzed the legal field and methods which are used by environmental lobbists in Ukraine. Main tasks of development of the institute of environmental lobbying with due regard to the positive experience of foreign countries are based. Recommendations in respect of legalization of the institute of lobbying and the ways of expansion of the influence of existing groups of pressure on the process of decision-making on important question in the sphere of environmental protection are given. It is said also about the strengthening of potential of the institute of lobbing and groups of pressure according to special features and peculiarities of situation in Ukraine.Выясняется сущность экологического лоббизма как направления политической деятельности; доказывается необходимость сбалансирования разнонаправленных интересов, кратко- и среднесрочных социальных и экономических выгод различных групп представителей общества с потребностями окружающей среды. Делается сопоставление методов экологического лоббизма с главными методами оказания давления в этом плане в политической сфере. Анализируется опыт становления и развития экологического лоббизма в Европейском Союзе. Исследуются основные группы интересов и механизмы их влияния на формирование экологической политики на региональном и национальном уровнях. Рассматривается правовое поле и главные инструменты, которые используются экологическими лоббистами в Украине; обосновываются главные задачи развития института экологического лоббизма с учетом позитивного опыта зарубежных стран. Даются рекомендации по нормированию института лоббизма и путей расширения влияния существующих групп давления на процесс принятия экозначимых решений, усиления их потенциала с учетом специфики и особеанностей ситуации в Украине

Microbial parasites make cyanobacteria blooms less of a trophic dead end than commonly assumed

International audienceParasites exist in every ecosystem and can have large influence on food web structure and function, yet, we know little about parasites’ effect on food web dynamics. Here we investigate the role of microbial parasitism (viruses of bacteria, phytoplankton and cyanobacteria, and parasitic chytrids on cyanobacteria) on the dynamics of trophic pathways and food web functioning during a cyanobacteria bloom, using linear inverse food web modeling parameterized with a 2-month long data set (biomasses, infection parameters, etc.). We show the importance of grazing on heterotrophic bacteria (the microbial pathway: DOC → bacteria → consumer) and how consumers depended on bacteria during peak-cyanobacteria bloom, which abundance was partly driven by the viral activity. As bacteria become the main energy pathway to the consumers, the system takes a more web-like structure through increased omnivory, and may thereby facilitate the system’s persistence to the cyanobacteria outbreak. We also showed how the killing of cyanobacteria host cells by chytrids had important impact on the food web dynamics by facilitating grazing on the cyanobacteria, and by offering alternative pathways to the consumers. This seemed to increase the system’s ability to return to a mix of trophic pathways, which theoretically increases the stability of the system

Terrestrial prey fuels the fish population of a small, high-latitude lake

The significance of terrestrial carbon subsidies in lake ecosystems has been under active research, but the contribution of terrestrial energy to the highest trophic levels has been explored less frequently. Here, we examined the terrestrial energy contribution to the ingested and assimilated diet of introduced brown trout (Salmo trutta) in a small, high-latitude lake using stomach content, stable isotope and fatty acid analyses. Stomach content analysis of brown trout indicated a terrestrial contribution of 29 % during the open-water season. Terrestrial prey was mainly composed of rodents (23 % in volume), but also amphibians and terrestrial insects. A longer term estimate, obtained with a mixing model (SIAR) for liver and dorsal muscle stable isotopes from 2010 and 2011, revealed a terrestrial contribution of 68.5 and 63.5 %, respectively. Through a similar model, fatty acid analysis on 2011 samples estimated a contribution of 71.5 %. Despite the relatively high proportion of rodents in the trout ingested diet, no correlation was evident between the long-term rodent cycles and terrestrial energy contribution estimated with stable isotopes of muscle. Terrestrial prey were an important long-term energy source for fish in small high-latitude lake, but its contribution was not directly dependent on the availability of pulsed resources such as small mammals

Evaluating the congruence between DNA ‐based and morphological taxonomic approaches in water and sediment trap samples: Analyses of a 36‐month time series from a temperate monomictic lake

International audiencePaleolimnological studies are central for identifying long-term changes, yet many studies rely on bioindicators that deposit detectable subfossils in sediments, such as diatoms and cladocerans. Emerging DNA-based approaches are expanding the taxonomic diversity that can be investigated. However, as sedimentary DNA-based approaches are expanding rapidly, calibration work is required to determine the advantages and limitations of these techniques. In this study, we assessed the congruence between morphological and DNA-based approaches applied to sediment trap samples for diatoms and crustaceans using both intracellular and extracellular DNA. We also evaluated which taxa are deposited in sediment traps from the water column to identify potential paleolimnological bioindicators of environmental variations. Based on 18S rRNA gene amplicons, we developed and analyzed a micro-eukaryotic, monthly time series that spanned 3 years and was comprised of paired water column and sediment trap samples from Cultus Lake, British Columbia, Canada. Comparisons of assemblages derived from our genetic and morphological analyses using RV coefficients revealed significant correlations for diatoms, but weaker correlations for crustaceans. Intracellular DNA reads correlated more strongly with diatom morphology, while extracellular DNA reads correlated more strongly with crustacean morphology. Additional analyses of amplicon sequence variants shared between water and sediment trap samples revealed a wide diversity of taxa to study in paleolimnology, including Ciliophora, Dinoflagellata, Chytridiomycota, Chrysophyceae, and Cryptophyceae. Partial RDAs identified significant environmental predictors of these shared assemblages. Overall, our study demonstrates the effectiveness of DNA-based approaches to track community dynamics from sediment samples, an essential step for successful paleolimnological studies

Stable carbon and nitrogen incorporation in blood and fin tissue of the catfish Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus (Siluriformes, Loricariidae)

A feeding trial was performed in the laboratory with the catfish species Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus to determine stable carbon (13C) and nitrogen (15 N) turnover rates and discrimination factors in non-lethally sampled tissues (red blood cells, plasma solutes, and fin). A second feeding trial was conducted to determine what P. disjunctivus could assimilate from low-quality wood-detritus—refractory polysaccharides (e.g., cellulose), or soluble wood-degradation products inherent in wood-detritus. This was performed by feeding the fish an artificial wood-detritus diet with fibrous (δ13C = −26.36‰; δ15 N = 2.13‰) and soluble portions (δ13C = −11.82‰; δ15 N = 3.39‰) that had different isotopic signatures and monitoring the dynamics of isotopic incorporation in the different tissues over time. Plasma solutes turned over more quickly than red blood cells for 13C and 15 N. However, in contrast to previous studies of juvenile fishes, C and N incorporation was primarily driven by catabolic tissue turnover as opposed to growth rate. Tissue-diet discrimination factors for 15 N varied from 4.08 to 5.17‰, whereas they were <2‰ for 13C (and less than 0.3‰ for plasma and red blood cells). The results of trial two suggested that P. disjunctivus could not assimilate refractory polysaccharides. Moreover, the δ13C and δ15 N signatures of wild-caught P. disjunctivus from Florida confirmed their detrital trophic standing in Floridian aquatic ecosystems