We used stable isotope analysis (SIA) and conventional techniques of diet assessment to determine marine trophic relationships in the Gulf of the Farallones, California, with an emphasis on marine birds. Stable-carbon (SW) and nitrogen (WN) isotopes were obtained from 98 tissue samples of 16 species representing primary and secondary consumers in 1993-1994. The valies of iYT ranged from -2O.i%;...

is a moderately large and cosmopolitan dolphin species that lives in deep tropical and warm temperate oceanic waters. Data on its distribution in the Mediterranean are very scarce but sightings seem to indicate that the species prefers the slope, mostly where the slope is closest to the coastline (Notarbartolo di Sciara et al., 1993). There are few studies on the diet of Risso’s dolphin and the...

Investigating how bioactive trace metals influence the cycling of macro-nutrients and carbon in oceanic and neritic environments is hindered by the labor-intensive and slow metal preconcentration methods currently available. We describe here a solid phase extraction method that rapidly preconcentrates a suite of bioactive trace metals from seawater. The ligand Ž . Ž . Ž bis 2-hydroxyethyl dithi...

This paper analyses long-term and seasonal changes in the North Sea plankton community during the period 1970 to 2008. Based on Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) data covering 38 yr, major changes in both phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and community structure were identified. Regime changes were detected around 1978, 1989 and 1998. The first 2 changes have been discussed in the litera...

A method to measure DNA and chlorophyll fluorescence simultaneously in single phytoplankton cells was developed and tested on cultured and natural populations. Samples were stored at -80°C following fixation with 1 % glutaraldehyde and freezing in Ilquid nitrogen, stained with DAPI (4',6-&amino-2-phenylindole), and analyzed by flow cytonletry. In cultures, cell DAPI-DNA fluorescence measured by...

Understanding what factors drive patterns of genetic diversity is a central aspect of many biological questions, ranging from the inference of historical demography to assessing the evolutionary potential of a species. However, as a larger number of datasets have become available, it is becoming clear that the relationship between the characteristics of a species and its genetic diversity is mo...

In birds, parents adjust their feeding behaviour according to breeding duties, which ultimately may lead to seasonal adjustments in nutritional physiology and hematology over the breeding season. Although avian physiology has been widely investigated in captivity, few studies have integrated individual changes in feeding and physiological ecology throughout the breeding season in wild birds. To...

The bigfin squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana, a commercially important fishery resource and also an object of sightseeing for diving, are under risk situation arising from current management procedure in Taiwan. Significant decline in abundance of bigfin squid and destruction of suitable substrates for spawning of neritic squids in coastal waters of Northeast Taiwan has been noted by local fisherme...

The Paleocene/Eocene boundary has been a significant subject globally for sometimes now. This work focuses on the application of sequence stratigraphy where diagnostic microfossils trends of abundances and qualitative parameters can be integrated with sedimentology in the recognition of stratigraphic surfaces. Such surfaces / boundaries are highstand systems tract (HST), transgressive systems t...

The present study analyses the distribution of cephalopod paralarvae off the Portuguese coast. The effects of temporal and physical variables on Loligo vulgaris, Octopus vulgaris, sepiolid and ommastrephid abundances are analysed with generalized linear models. Their distribution patterns are discussed in relation to mesoscale features, including currents, thermal fronts and coastal upwelling c...