1. The use of marine reserves as tools either for conservation or fisheries management requires rigorous empirical evidence for the recovery of exploited species within them. 2. The relative density and size structure of snapper Pagrus auratus (Sparidae), an intensively exploited reef fish species, were measured, using baited underwater video, inside and outside three northern New Zealand marin...

Bacterial biomass, potential bacterial production and ectoenzymatic activity were measured at 4 stations along a trophic gradient at the Atlantic Barrier Reef off Belize (Central America). We investigated the changes in the trophic status of this system, which we hypothesized would also lead to changes in the bacterial community. The bacterial community of the oligotrophic station was character...

Red clover, known for its estrogenic activity due to its isoflavones content (biochanin A, genistein, daidzein and formononetin), was inoculated with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae. Once the symbiotic fungus was well established, plants were harvested and we determined the root and shoot dry weight as well as the P-content. In roots and leaves the levels of biochanin A, genist...

Winter oilseed rape (OSR) can be grown intercropped with frost-sensitive service plant mixtures. This practice may reduce weed pressure and contribute to providing N for OSR after freezing. However, there is little knowledge of how plants interact together the soil in diverse annual crop To assess these interactions, two contrasting legume were selected: faba bean grass pea, as well a non-legum...

Urban landscapes are often located in biologically diverse, productive regions. As such, urbanization may have dramatic consequences for this diversity, largely due to changes in the structure and function of urban communities. We examined the influence of landscape productivity (indexed by geology), housing density and vegetation clearing on the spatial distribution of nocturnal insect biomass...

Four feeding levels (40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of satiation) were designed as the different treatment groups to assess its effects on water quality and plankton community structure in the yellow catfish rearing enclosure ecosystem. The results showed that the weight gain and specific growth rate decreased significantly as the feeding level decreased. The soluble nutrients (except for NO2-N) concen...

This paper presents evidence of a seasonal shift from P to N as the nutrient limiting the accumulation of algal biomass in Chesapeake Bay. Following the winter/spring maximum in freshwater runoff, (1) the ratio of dissolved inorganic nitrogen to soluble reactive phosphorus (DIN/PO,) was greater than the N/P of algal biomass; (2) alkaline phosphatase activity was high; (3) phosphate turnover tim...

It is well established that application of biochar to soils can promote soil fertility, which ultimately may enhance plant growth. While many mechanisms have been proposed explain this, one specific mechanism, the “microbial refugia hypothesis,” suggests provide physical protection for microbe from microfauna otherwise exert top-down control on microbial biomass and activity. We tested hypothes...

Ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass has been recognized as one of the most promising alternatives for the production of renewable and sustainable energy. However, one of the major bottlenecks holding back its commercialization is the high costs of the enzymes needed for biomass conversion. In this work, we studied the enzymes produced from a selected strain of Aspergillus niger under solid sta...

A cybernetic model is proposed to examine generic features of storage pathways. This model is capable of describing synthesis of carbon and non-carbon storage polymers. The effect of environmental conditions is evaluated using storage polymer level as a fraction of total biomass as a gauge of pathway performance. The base wild-type pathway is then analyzed to determine the effect of genetic alt...