It has been hypothesized that ingestion of microplastic increases exposure of aquatic organisms to hydrophobic contaminants. To date, most laboratory studies investigated chemical transfer from ingested microplastic without taking other exposure pathways into account. Therefore, we studied the effect of polyethylene (PE) microplastic in sediment on PCB uptake by Arenicola marina as a model spec...

The global transfer of live bait creates a potent vector (mechanism) for invasion of marine species, including associated biota (“hitchhikers”) not intended for shipment. Unlike other vectors of non-native species transfer in coastal marine systems (e.g., ship ballast water), vector management strategies to reduce transport of associated biota with live bait are lacking. In this study, we exper...

Because of the high management relevance, commercial fish related aspects have often been central in marine ecosystem investigations. The iterative shiftogram method was applied to detect occurrence, type and timing of shifts in the single and multivariate time series linked to the spring spawning herring larvae in the Gulf of Riga (Baltic Sea). Altogether nineteen larval herring and related en...

The Asian interior arid zone is the largest desert landform system in the Northern Hemisphere, and has high biodiversity. Little is currently known about the evolutionary history of its biota. In this study, we used Zygophyllum, an important and characteristic component of the Asian interior arid zone, to provide new insights into the evolution of this biota. By greatly enlarged taxon sampling,...

Here we develop from a long term field experiment an assessment method of interstitial fauna resilience to combined sewer overflows (CSOs) effect. We address the case of “small water courses” for which the ratio of CSOs to natural flow can be 1 to much more. Biotic material was collected in the benthic and hyporheic layers. Biotic material focussed mainly on oligocheates species whose diversity...

Plant diversity has been shown to determine the composition and functioning of soil biota. Although root-derived organic inputs are discussed as the main drivers of soil communities, experimental evidence is scarce. While there is some evidence that higher root biomass at high plant diversity increases substrate availability for soil biota, several studies have speculated that the quantity and ...

Cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) in surface water, sediment, carp, and crab samples collected from upstream and downstream regions of coastal watersheds along the Chinese Northern Bohai and Yellow Seas were analyzed to provide a comprehensive understanding and assessment of their environmental concentrations and bioaccumulations. The results showed that downstream waters contaminated with Zn would ha...

The key issue in the assessment system for radiation protection of wildlife is the establishment of dose-effects relationships for reference representatives of natural biota. Within the frame of the EC Project EPIC “Environmental Protection from Ionizing Contaminants” (2000-2003), a database has been created, which includes about 1600 records from 440 publications in Russian on the dose-effects...

Physical and biological evidence supports the probable existence of an enclave of relatively warm climate located between the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean in the United States during the Last Glacial Maximum. The region supported a mosaic of forest and prairie habitats inhabited by a "Floridian" ice-age biota. Plant and vertebrate remains suggest an ecological gradient ...

The timing and nature of biotic recovery from the devastating end-Permian mass extinction (252 Ma) are much debated. New studies in South China suggest that complex marine ecosystems did not become re-established until the middle-late Anisian (Middle Triassic), much later than had been proposed by some. The recently discovered exceptionally preserved Luoping biota from the Anisian Stage of the ...