• European Marine Science
• 2013-2022close
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Simple Summary The chironomid midge Belgica antarctica Jacobs is endemic to the western Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands. We provide the first detailed photomicrographic images of the fourth-instar larval head capsule and posterior parapods. We assessed variation in the morphology of larvae from two different collection locations off the coast of the western Antarctic Peninsula and compared it with that available in the literature. A number of differences were identified relating to the size of the larvae, the number of teeth on the mandibles, the number of antennal segments and the length of the antennal blade. Malformations of the mandible and mentum are reported for the first time in this species. Abstract The external morphology of the fourth-instar larva of the Antarctic endemic chironomid midge Belgica antarctica is described. Larvae were collected from Jougla Point (Wiencke Island) and an un-named island close to Enterprise Island, off the coast of the western Antarctic Peninsula. Light microscopy was used to examine and document photographically the structures of the mouthparts (mandible, mentum, premandible, labrum), antennae, pecten epipharyngis, clypeus, frontal apotome and posterior parapods. Measurements of the mouthparts are presented. The data obtained are compared with that available in the literature. A number of differences were identified relating to the size of the larvae, the number of teeth on the mandibles, the number of antennal segments and the length of the antennal blade. Malformations of the mandible and mentum are reported for the first time in this species. Features of larvae of taxonomic value that can be used to determine the species in larval stages are presented. These are of utility in using the larvae to reveal relationships with other species. Larvae are also important in ecological and genotoxicological studies, which require accurate species level identification.

The aim the study is to determine the temporal parameters of the long-lived radionuclides specific activity decrease in the commercial fish species of the Kaniv Reservoir for the period 1987–2021. Rutilus rutilus, Scardinius erythrophthalmus, Blissa bjoerkna, Abramis brama, Pelecus cultratus (peaceful species) and Esox lucius, Stizostedion lucioperca (carnivorous species) were selected in the middle and lower parts of the reservoir in January 2021 to determine the current levels of radioactive contamination in the representatives of the commercial ichthyofauna of the Kaniv Reservoir. The specific activity of 90Sr and 137Cs was determined in the entire body of fish by conventional radiochemical and gamma-spectrometric methods. The analysis of the dynamic characteristics of the radionuclides content in the representatives of the reservoir ichthyofauna was carried out on the basis of the results of studies of 90Sr and 137Cs content in fish during 1987–2012 and their specific activity in the body in 2021. In 2021, the average specific activity of 90Sr in fish was 0.6–1.6 Bq/kg, 137Cs - 2.4–13.2 Bq/kg. According to the results of previous studies, the average specific content of 90Sr in the fish of the Kaniv Reservoir decreased by approximately 6.5 times - from 60 ± 30 to 9 ± 3 Bq / kg during 1987-1993, and by 2003 it decreased by another 5 times up to 1.8 ± 0.8 Bq / kg and did not exceed the values recorded in freshwater fish in Ukraine before the Chernobyl accident in 1979–1985. Consequently, during the period of 2003–2021 the levels of 90Sr content in fish from the Kaniv Reservoir remained virtually unchanged. Based on the data on 137Cs accumulation in various feeding types fish in the Kaniv Reservoir, time parameters describing a decrease in the element specific activity were determined. During 1987–2021 the rate of decrease in 137Cs content in peaceful and predatory fish did not differ significantly and amounted to 0.10 ± 0.01 year-1, the period of effective half-decrease was 6.7 ± 0.7 years. Analysis of long-term data made it possible to distinguish 2 periods during which the specific activity of 137Cs in the fish organism decreased at different rates. In 1987-2004, 137Cs content levels in peaceful fish decreased from 70 ± 22 to 6.1 ± 2.2 Bq/kg, in carnivorous species - from 202 ± 41 to 19.8 ± 7.6 B/ kg, i.e. approximately by 10–11 times, which corresponds to a half-decrease of about 6 years. In 2004–2021 the element content in peaceful fish decreased to 2.9 ± 0.7 Bq/kg, in predatory fish - to 7.3 ± 4.1 Bq/kg, that is, by another 2–3 times, which corresponds to a half-decrease of 12 ± 3 years. Thus, it was found that the rate of decrease in 137Cs specific activity in fish slows down over time. The obtained parameters will make it possible to predict with a high degree of accuracy the dynamics of the radionuclide contamination formation in ichthyofauna in the event of artificial radionuclides entering aquatic ecosystems as a result of emergency situations. Key words: Kaniv Reservoir, fish, radionuclides, longterm dynamics, rate of decrease.

Belgica antarctica (Diptera: Chironomidae), a brachypterous midge endemic to the maritime Antarctic, was first described in 1900. Over more than a century of study, a vast amount of information has been compiled on the species (3 750 000 Google search results as of January 10, 2021), encompassing its ecology and biology, life cycle and reproduction, polytene chromosomes, physiology, biochemistry and, increasingly, omics. In 2014, B. antarctica's genome was sequenced, further boosting research. Certain developmental stages can be cultured successfully in the laboratory. Taken together, this wealth of information allows the species to be viewed as a natural model organism for studies of adaptation and function in extreme environments.

Water resources and associated ecosystems are becoming highly endangered due to ongoing global environmental changes. Spatial ecological modelling is a promising toolbox for understanding the past, present and future distribution and diversity patterns in groundwater-dependent ecosystems, such as fens, springs, streams, reed beds or wet grasslands. Still, the lack of detailed water chemistry maps prevents the use of reasonable models to be applied on continental and global scales. Being major determinants of biological composition and diversity of groundwater-dependent ecosystems, groundwater pH and calcium are of utmost importance. Here we developed an up-to-date European map of groundwater pH and Ca, based on 7577 measurements of near-surface groundwater pH and calcium distributed across Europe. In comparison to the existing European groundwater maps, we included several times more sites, especially in the regions rich in spring and fen habitats, and filled the apparent gaps in eastern and southeastern Europe. We used random forest models and regression kriging to create continuous maps of water pH and calcium at the continental scale, which is freely available also as a raster map (Hájek et al., 2020b; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4139912). Lithology had a higher importance than climate for both pH and calcium. The previously recognised latitudinal and altitudinal gradients were rediscovered with much refined regional patterns, as associated with bedrock variation. For ecological models of distribution and diversity of many terrestrial ecosystems, our new map based on field groundwater measurements is more suitable than maps of soil pH, which mirror not only bedrock chemistry but also vegetation-dependent soil processes. This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (grant no. 19-01775S provided support for Borja Jiménez-Alfaro, Petra Hájková, Veronika Horsáková and Michal Horsák; grant no. GX19-28491X to the Centre for European Vegetation Syntheses provided support for Michal Hájek, Tomáš Peterka and Ondřej Hájek). Jutta Kapfer was supported by the Fram Center (grant no. A36214). We thank Sabine Bergmann and Dirk Hinterlang (State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) and Rossitza Gorova (Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria) for providing us with the public water chemistry data, Andraž Čarni for alerting us to the open data on Slovenian groundwater, and Valerijus Rašomavičius for providing us with the data from Kadūnas et al. (2017). We thank Tatyana Ivchenko for providing us with the data for the Ural Mountains, which were not included in the paper. Paweł Pawlikowski (P.P.), Lucia Sekulová (L.S.), Jana Navrátilová (J.N.) and Dag-Inge Øien (D.-I.Ø.) kindly agreed for us to use their unpublished pH and EC data. We further thank Ilona Knollová, John Rodwell (J.R.), Kiril Vasilev (K.V.) and Idoia Biurrun (I.B.) for providing pH data from vegetation databases via the European Vegetation Archive. Peer reviewed

In water reservoirs, the size and characteristics of fish, in the first place, affect – the composition and clarity of food objects, the number of food competitors and predators, their numbers, industry, and others. Besides, the rate of linear and weight growth are the arteries that determine the value of the species as an object of commercial fishing. The hybrid of silver and bighead carp easily adapts to different growing conditions (from the point of view of the formation of fish-biological indicators), protein in different years depending on feeding conditions, in one reservoir indicators of length and body weight of ribs are inadequate. Evaluating the influence of feeding conditions on the linear growth of the rib, the method of generalized evaluation was used. An indicator equal to the sum of potential fish productivity for phyto-zooplankton was used to characterize the foraging status of a particular condition in a certain period. In terms of the quality of growth indicators, the indicator of the absolute weight of nature with differentiation of farms, age groups, and years was used. The results of the research revealed significant variability in the size and weight characteristics of different groups of silver and bighead carp, which were isolated from ponds and reservoirs. According to the results of experimental studies established for the cultivation of hybrid silver and bighead carp in reservoirs, relatively high rates of linear and weight growth are expected, higher than for similar species, which is provided in the conditions of fish ponds.

The article aims to determine the effect of combining duck meat (Anas platyrhynchos) and freshwater fish (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) on thequality (nutritional value, functional and technological properties, sensory attributes) of meat-containing semi-smoked sausages. The optimal version of the recipe with the highest quality indicators of semi-smoked meat sausages with duck meat and freshwater aquaculture was determined. It was found that the protein content of meat-containing, semi-smoked sausages with different ratios of duck and fish meat was 17.90%–21.34% higher than that of the analog. A sample containing 50% duck and 30% fish has an ideal protein:fat ratio of 1:1. The following high functional properties of model minced experimental semi-smoked sausages were established: up to 72.75% moisture, water binding capacity of up to 71.47%,and water holding capacity of up to 60.60%. A comparative analysis of the rheological properties of minced meat showed that increasing the proportion of duck meat in minced meat modelling systems improves the strength of the system and increases shear stress. The addition of fish raw materials improves theelasticity of meat-containing systems. The optimal ratio of duck and fish is 50:30 for plastic and easily minced mince system. Combining duck meat with raw fish increases the stability of the emulsion to 74.8%. Analysis of the sensory parameters of the experimental sausages confirmed that the best ratio of duck to freshwater fish is 50:30.

У кваліфікаційній роботі наведена оцінка техніки годівлі службових собак в умовах навчальної лабораторії кінології Поліського національного університету. Аналізуючи звіти лабораторії кінології, слід відмітити, що кількість та породний склад собак за останні 3 роки поступово збільшується і на кінець 2020 року становить: Німецька вівчарка – 10 голів, Середньоазіатська вівчарка – 4, Лабрадор – 4, Самоїд –2, Далматинець – 1 голова. Основу раціону для службових собак займають корми тваринного походження (субпродукти, м'ясо, молоко та молочні продукти, жир тваринний), рослинного походження (крупа вівсяна, ячмінна, пшоно, овочі), морська риба або морепродукти, мінеральні добавки (кісткове борошно, сіль кухонна), вітамінні препарати (тетравіт, катозал). В умовах навчальної лабораторії собаки харчуються двічи на добу – уранці і у вечері, приблизно за 1,5 години до виконання службових обов’язків і через 30-60 хвилин після роботи. Годівля собак залежить від розпорядку доби. Собакам, які охороняють територію у нічні часи годування проводять за 80-120 хвилин до роботи, а зранку після того, як їх зняли з охорони після відпочинку. Напування службових собак без обмежень. Результати дослідження крові доводять нам про те, що всі фізіологічні процеси в організмі тварин відбуваються нормально, без відхилень. При розрахунках економічної ефективності наведені дані говорять про те, що витрати на раціони годівлі тварин у періоді спокою на 2115 гривень менші, ніж у собак, які виконують службові обов’язки. Це пояснюється тим, що тварини, які залучені на охорону об’єктів, територій, витрачають значно більше енергії та потребують підвищену потребу у поживних речовинах (м'ясо, риба). The qualifying work provides an assessment of the technique of feeding service dogs in the training laboratory of cynology of Polissya National University. Analyzing the reports of the cynology laboratory, it should be noted that the number and breed composition of dogs over the past 3 years is gradually increasing and at the end of 2020 is: German Shepherd - 10 heads, Central Asian Shepherd - 4, Labrador - 4, Samoyed - 2, Dalmatian - 1 . The basis of the diet for service dogs are animal feed (offal, meat, milk and dairy products, animal fat), vegetable origin (oatmeal, barley, millet, vegetables), sea fish or seafood, mineral supplements, bone meal, salt kitchen), vitamin preparations (tetravit, katozal). In the training laboratory, dogs are fed twice a day - in the morning and in the evening, about 1.5 hours before work and 30-60 minutes after work. Feeding dogs depends on the daily routine. Dogs guarding the area at night are fed 80-120 minutes before work, and in the morning after being removed from guard after rest. Watering service dogs without restrictions. The results of blood tests prove to us that all physiological processes in the body of animals occur normally, without deviations. In terms of cost-effectiveness calculations, the data suggest that the cost of feeding animals at rest is 2,115 hryvnias lower than that of dogs on duty. This is due to the fact that animals that are involved in the protection of objects, areas, consume much more energy and need an increased need for nutrients (meat, fish).

Fast population growth, increase in per capita income and increase in level of awareness among the people regarding health are the main causes of increase in demand for nutritional and protein rich food. Fish is very good source of protein as well as vitamins. Fish may play a vital role to ensure the nutritional security in rural areas. Fish production and consumption has however undergone major uneven changes in the past four decades. It is found that at higher ends of the income distribution, the consumption of milk, eggs, meat, fish and processed foods have risen. Present study focuses on the demand for fish in Delhi and NCR in comparison to other items like chicken, mutton and eggs. A Three Stage Budgeting Framework of demand is used for present analysis. NSSO data of household consumption has been used for analysis. Per capita consumption of “fish”, “chicken” and “mutton” in Delhi and NCR were estimated and it was found to be 4.04 kg/ annum, 2.27 kg/annum and 0.81 kg/annum respectively. So, per capita consumption of “fish” was found to be greater than “chicken” as well as “mutton”. Income elasticity of demand was estimated for each income group of population and in most of the cases demand for fish was found to be income elastic. Compensated as well as non-compensated price elasticity of demand for fish was also estimated. It was found that price elasticity of fish was almost unitary elastic whereas price elasticity of chicken” and mutton were price inelastic. Fish demand was also projected up to 2020 and it was found to be 5.11 kg/capita/ annum in 2020. With increase in income of the population as well as awareness of health benefit of fish, it is expected that fish consumption will increase at a very fast rate in future. However the presence of a large proportion of vegetarian population in Delhi and NCR is a challenging proposition for increasing of overall fish consumption of Delhi and NCR.

The gender differences in reaction to salinity (3-50) and temperature (6-26°C) stress were studied in the thermophilic cyclopoid copepod Oithona davisae, introduced in the brackish temperate Black Sea since 2001. Both females and males possessed similar salinity tolerance ranges (6–40) irrespective of the salinity change rate, and females displayed a striking osmotic control upon sharp (18-40 and 40-18) salinity shocks. By contrast, the temperature response of males and females were different. Torpidity was recorded at a temperature below 10°C in males collected both in warm and cold seasons, as well as in summer-autumn females whilst in females grown up at the beginning of winter the locomotor parameters were high even at 6°С. The total metabolic rate of summer-autumn and winter females was determined by the level of basal metabolic rate and energy expenditures due to motor activity. In winter females that maintained high activity at low temperature, the total and basal metabolic rates, differing by 2.3 times at all temperatures within the range of 8–28°C, varied in accordance with the temperature coefficient Q10 of about 2, whereas in summer-autumn females at low temperatures total metabolic rate decreased to the basal level. The plasticity of both males and female to wide ranges in abiotic conditions provide an adaptive strategy to sustain the spreading of O. davisae in diverse environments.

Aim A fundamental question in macroecology centres around understanding the relationship between species' local abundance and their distribution in geographical and climatic space (i.e. the multi-dimensional climatic space or climatic niche). Here, we tested three macroecological hypotheses that link local abundance to the following range properties: (a) the abundance-range size relationship, (b) the abundance-range centre relationship and (c) the abundance-suitability relationship. Location Europe. Taxon Vascular plants. Methods Distribution range maps were extracted from the Chorological Database Halle to derive information on the range and niche sizes of 517 European vascular plant species. To estimate local abundance, we assessed samples from 744,513 vegetation plots in the European Vegetation Archive, where local species' abundance is available as plant cover per plot. We then calculated the 'centrality', that is, the distance between the location of the abundance observation and each species' range centre in geographical and climatic space. The climatic suitability of plot locations was estimated using coarse-grain species distribution models (SDMs). The relationships between centrality or climatic suitability with abundance was tested using linear models and quantile regression. We summarized the overall trend across species' regression slopes from linear models and quantile regression using a meta-analytical approach. Results We did not detect any positive relationships between a species' mean local abundance and the size of its geographical range or climatic niche. Contrasting yet significant correlations were detected between abundance and centrality or climatic suitability among species. Main conclusions Our results do not provide unequivocal support for any of the relationships tested, demonstrating that determining properties of species' distributions at large grains and extents might be of limited use for predicting local abundance, including current SDM approaches. We conclude that environmental factors influencing individual performance and local abundance are likely to differ from those factors driving plant species' distribution at coarse resolution and broad geographical extents. Graduiertenforderung Sachsen-Anhalt (scholarship to MS), with additional support through institutional funds of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. PK received support from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig funded by the German Research Foundation (FZT 118). IB and JAC were supported by the Basque Government (IT936-16). MC, AK and CM were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (19-28491X). SR was supported by the University of Latvia through grant funding (AAp2016/B041//Zd2016/AZ03). We acknowledge the financial support of the Open Access Publication Fund of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.