Maternal lysozyme concentrations in the eggs of the Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) in relation to breeding density and laying order

Background: Females can differentially deposit the immune factor lysozyme into eggs based on conditions of local breeding density and laying order.Materials: We collected 80 eggs from Great Cormorants(Phalacrocorax carbo) and then analyzed whether the level of lysozymes in the eggs is related to breeding density and laying order.Results: Between clutches,the level of lysozyme in eggs is positively related to breeding density; while within a clutch,the level of lysozyme is positively related to the laying order.Conclusion: When parents breed under conditions of high density,they allocate more lysozymes to their offspring,a trait adaptive to the local environment.That the increase in the level of lysozymes is a function of the laying order seems a necessary condition to mitigate the hierarchy among siblings for improving the survival of the entire clutch.

Changes in Mangrove Epifaunal Assemblages Caused by Forest Logging during Hunting of the Neotropical Cormorant (<i>Phalacrocorax brasilianus</i>) on the Colombian Pacific Coast

Although the importance of mangroves is clearly recognized around the world, these ecosystems are being strongly altered by the logging of their forests for multiple purposes. The Colombian Pacific coast is not an exception to this situation, and apart from the traditional logging of wood, the hunting of the Neotropical Cormorant or Pato-cuervo (Phalacrocorax brasilianus), an activity largely unknown but widespread in the region, is also causing the logging of great extensions of mangroves. The aim of this research was to determine if the assemblages of mollusks and crustaceans of these mangroves are being affected by the hunting of the cormorant. To answer this question, quantitative samplings were realized in four transects in logged and unlogged mangrove areas on the southwestern coast of the Colombian Pacific and diversity, equitability and dominance of macrofaunal assemblages of mangroves were calculated. The data show that although significant differences between diversity indices were not found, there were important differences in equitability (total J’: 0.55 in T1, 0.77 in T2, 0.46 in T3 and 0.65 in T4), specific dominance, and composition of species (T1: 11 species, T2: 13, T3: 9 and T4: 11) between logged and unlogged areas. Based on these results, although forest structure and interstitial salinity were different among transects, we conclude that the present practice of exploitation of the Neotropical Cormorant is affecting the epifaunal populations of mangroves, causing changes in the composition and dominance of species.

Antibodies to Newcastle Disease Virus in Egg Yolks of Great Cormorant (<i>Phalacrocorax carbo</i>) at Qinghai Lake

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is not considered as cause of serious disease in humans. But, recent data make it clear that, under particular circumstances, it is indeed possible for NDV to cause severe human respiratory disease. Newcastle Disease infection has been reported in many bird species. Cormorants that inhabit at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are mainly represented by Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis), which is distributed mainly on the Qinghai Lake area. Cormorants are considered as one of the main NDV-reservoir. We conducted the study for the presence of antibodies to Newcastle disease virus by hemagglutination inhibition test in yolks. We got 50% of seropositive yolks to Newcastle disease virus. These results show that NDV circulates in the Qinghai Lake population of cormorants. We first used the technique of detection of antibodies to Newcastle disease virus in the egg yolk for study the circulation of the virus in cormorants and demonstrated its effectiveness. We should carefully monitor cases of pneumonia in the population of people living around the lake and assess the causes of the disease.

Tilapia Stock Suppression by the Great Cormorant (<i>Phalacrocorax carbo</i>) in Lake Kinneret, Israel

The Great Cormorant (Phalcrocorax carbo sinensis) is a well-known fish predator and migratory bird. The bird is a wintering visitor in Israel from the end of October through March. During 1950-1990, the Cormorant used to stay mostly in northern Israel, in the Hula Valley, preying on fish in Lake Kinneret as well as fishponds and adjacent reservoirs. Flocks of Cormorants were deported from northern Israel to eastern and central country regions, causing severe damage to aquaculture. A second operative deportation was carried out and the birds migrated to Lake Kinneret. A survey of their feeding habits was done by The National Nature and Parks Conservation Authority. The outcome information was compiled with international data and assembled towards a conclusive summary of potential causative damage to Lake Kinneret Fishery and Ecosystem structure. Consequences are described and recommendations made.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in different tissues of the cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) from Dongting Lake,China

Tissue distribution provides important information regarding the pharmacokinetic behavior of pollutants and is invaluable when analyzing the risk posed to avian species by the exposure to such kind of pollutants. In this study, concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins （PCDDs） and polychlorinated dibenzofurans （PCDFs） were determined in muscle, liver, spleen, kidney, stomach, gall bladder, skin, heart, pancreas, intestine and lung tissue extracts of cormorants collected from Dongting Lake, China. Tissue distribution results showed preferential accumulation of PCDD/Fs in both liver and skin. The total concentration of PCDD/Fs ranged from 421 to 5696 pg/g lipid weight. Octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin （OCDD） was the predominant congener in all tissues and contributed between 31% and 82% to all 17 PCDD/Fs in different tissues. The liver/muscle ratios progressively increased with the degree of chlorination of PCDDs, except for OCDD. The relative toxic potential of PCDDs and PCDFs in tissues were calculated using the World Health Organization （WHO） Toxic Equivalency Factors （TEFs） for birds. The concentrations of WHO-toxic equivalent in different tissues ranged between 14.8 and 2021 pg/g lipid weight. These results indicated PCDD/Fs may have been bio-accumulated in cormorant via food-web. Furthermore, when compared with studies reported in the literatures, the PCDD/Fs levels in the cormorant collected from Dongting Lake were still relatively high.

Cormorant Webbed-feet Support Water-surface Takeoff:Quantitative Analysis via CFD

The bio-inspired aerial–aquatic vehicle off ers attractive perspectives for future intelligent robotic systems.Cormorant’s webbed-feet support water-surface takeoff is a typical locomotion pattern of amphibious water birds,but its highly maneuverable and agile kinetic behaviors are inconvenient to measure directly and challenging to calculate convergently.This paper presents a numerical Computational Fluid Dynamic(CFD)technique to simulate and reproduce the cormorant's surface takeoff process by modeling the three-dimensional biomimetic cormorant.Quantitative numerical analysis of the fluid flows and hydrodynamic forces around a cormorant’s webbed feet,body,and wings are conducted,which are consistent with experimental results and theoretical verification.The results show that the webbed feet indeed produced a large majority of the takeoff power during the initial takeoff stage.Prior lift and greater angle of attack are generated to bring the body off the water as soon as possible.With the discussion of the mechanism of the cormorant’s water-surface takeoff and the relevant characteristics of biology,the impetus and attitude adjustment strategies of the aerial–aquatic vehicle in the takeoff process are illustrated.

Regulated Fishery Is Beneficial for the Sustainability of Fish Population in Lake Kinneret (Israel)

Analysis of long-term data-sets of limnological and ichthyological features of the Lake Kinneret ecosystem structure revealed evidence that the decline of fish landings during 2007-2008 was not an unpredicted crisis and included only Tilapias, and mostly S. galilaeus. Several factors were found to be responsible for the decline and recovery afterwards: decline of stocking, enhancement of population size of food competitors (Bleaks), the use of smaller mesh size of fishing nets, increase of predation pressure by Cormorants, the burst of Viral Disease, natural cyclic oscillation of ENSO event and its higher frequencies and intensities during the 2000’s. Therefore, recommendations aimed at ceased fishing are not justified and fishery continuation is correct: renewal of Bleaks fishing effort, improvement of fishing legislations, enforcement and management of fish stocking, and efficient implementation of Cormorants deportation.

The Animals of China in the Eighteenth-Century British Imagination

In eighteenth-century Britain, knowledge about animals from around the world was rapidly increasing. This paper focuses on what the British knew and imagined about the animals of China from reading the works of European travellers and natural historians. Whereas the animals of Africa and America served to foster a growing sense of European mastery of less civilized parts of the world through trade and possession, those of China were understood as embedded in a highly advanced civilization and therefore as sources of knowledge about that civilization. This paper examines the way in which British understandings of China were mediated through accounts of Chinese animals and of human-animal relations in China. Looking at works of popular natural history and at Oliver Goldsmith＇s fictional letters of a ＂Chinese philosopher＂ in The Citizen of the World （1762）, I argue that the animals of China bore several messages about their country. Focusing on the particular examples of the golden pheasant, the horse, the cormorant, and the cat, I suggest that British writing about Chinese animals served as a way of expressing mixed feelings about the value of advanced civilizations, whether Chinese or European.