Pecologix Political Ecology Blotter

► A suite of biomarkers was standardized in the earthworm L. terrestris for detecting the pollutant induced stress syndrome. ► Exposure to either copper sulphate or methiocarb induced dramatic granulocyte enlargement. ► Pollutant induced granulocyte enlargement showed high sensitivity to pollutant exposure compared to other biomarkers. ► Granulocyte enlargement showed to be a potential general [...]

► We confirm the impact of environmental pollutant mediated oxidative stress on hepatocytes structures. ► Disturbance in bioenergetic status and Δψm, and induction of different kDa proteins were observed in stressed fish. ► Evaluation of stress parameters as biological markers is highly sensitive in comparison with routinely used biomarkers. ► Δψm determination provides more immediate, [...]

We used a tree-ring chronology as a proxy for annual area burned (AAB) in the northern Rockies, USA during AD 1626–2008. We correlated annual ring widths of alpine larch trees (Larex lyallii) sampled at a single high-elevation site in western Montana with AAB for the United States Forest Region 1. Radial growth was significantly associated [...]

Six different species of lichens (Parmelia sulcata Tayl., Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach., Ramalina farinacea, Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf., Usnea sp. and Lobaria pulmonaria (Schreb.) Hoffm.) were collected in two mountain valleys in Central Pyrenees: the Aspe and Aragon valleys. Two multivariate techniques have been applied with different purposes, ANOVA and Discriminant Analysis (DA), to evaluate [...]

The abundance of plastics in stomachs of northern fulmars from the North Sea is used in the OSPAR Ecological Quality Objective (EcoQO) for marine litter. The preliminary EcoQO defines acceptable ecological quality as the situation where no more than 10% of fulmars exceed a critical level of 0.1 g of plastic in the stomach. During [...]

In this work, possible relationships between global DNA methylation and metal/metalloid concentrations in earthworms have been explored. Direct correlation was observed between soil and tissue As, Se, Sb, Zn, Cu, Mn, Ag, Co, Hg, Pb (p < 0.05). Speciation results obtained for As and Hg hint at the capability of earthworms for conversion of inorganic [...]

Environmental fate of fish farm wastes (FFW) released from an open-sea-cage farm at Kat O, Hong Kong was examined by measuring carbon and nitrogen stable isotope (SI) ratios in selected benthic organisms collected along a 2000 m transect from the farm. Our results showed that FFW significantly influenced the energy utilization profile of consumers near [...]