Environmental letters最新文献

Organisms were isolated from the November 1973 red tide outbreak in a search for a naturally occurring predator organism. Two organisms were found which look promising as a means of biocontrol: a Tintinnideae spp., ciliate and Gomphosphaeria aponina Kutzing, a blue-green algae. This report characterizes a blue-green algal toxin found to be lethal to the Florida red tide organism Gymnodinium breve Davis.

Entomopathogens, diseases of insects, are suggested as a possible new generation of safe, selective insecticides. Over a thousand pathogens have been isolated from insects. Many of these, associated with major insect pests, are potential candidates for development into microbial insecticides. Phases in the development of a microbial insecticide are discussed as well as factors (production, safety, efficacy, registration, non-technical) which may influence this development.

The control of insect populations by restricting their birth rate offers several advantages over methods based on increasing the death rate. The sterile-male technique scored practical success in the control of the screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), but more general applications of the sterility procedure may be expected in conjunction with the development of integrated procedures for pest insect management.

Concentrations of nitric acid extractable Cd, Pb and Zn in surface soils, predominated by partially decomposed litter, from 15 sites within 9.7 km of the lead-zinc smelter complex at Trail, British Columbia, Canada, attained 36.1, 12123, and 1394 ppm but averaged 17.8, 2607, and 571 ppm, respectively. Although underlying mineral soils contained smaller concentrations of all three metals, the relative immobility of Pb and mobility of Zn were observed. A close association between Cd and Zn concentrations was reflected by significant correlations but variation of Pb concentration in surface soils was independent from concentrations of the other metals.

Effects of the 1971 spring-summer red tide upon mid-eastern Gulf of Mexico patch reef communities are discussed. In situ (SCUBA) observations at widely scattered reef localities between 13-30 m off Sarasota, Florida, both before and after the red tide support the following: 1) under the appropriate environmental conditions, red tides may result in near-complete extirpations of shallow-water (less than 40 m) reef biotas from extensive areas on the inner central-West Florida Shelf), 2) recolonization by certain biotic groups is relatively rapid (e.g., benthic algae and fishes) while that of others (e.g., alcyonarian corals, scleractinian corals, and echinoderms) is slow and may require several years, and 3) seasonal progression as well as true ecological succession following certain red tides may temporarily result in floral and faunal assemblages qualitatively and quantitatively distinctive from those prior to the red tide. It is therefore suggested that certain red tides, particularly those generated beneath pronounced thermoclines, may be previously underestimated phenomena regulating the composition, abundance, and distribution of shallow-water reef biotas in the mid-eastern Gulf of Mexico. It is surmised that the periodic occurrence of these red tides may prevent the evolution of a climax or equilibrium reef community.

A rapid potentiometric method for determining fluoride in vegetation is described. Recovery of flouride by extraction with concentrated mineral acids compares favourably with standard methods of analysis in terms of accuracy and precision. The procedure affords the additional advantage that several citations are also quantitatively extracted and may be determined directly in the acid digest by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

The toxin from the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax tamarensis blocks nervous conduction through a selective inhibition of the mechanism whereby the membrane undergoes an increase in permeability to sodium ions. The effect is exerted only from outside of the nerve membrane. These effects are exactly the same as those exerted by tetrodotoxin or saxitoxin.