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Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnologı́a Agraria y Alimentaria PID2020-114060RR-C33-INFLUOMA Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) can affect wildlife, poultry, and humans, so a One Health perspective is needed to optimize mitigation strategies. Migratory waterfowl globally spread AIVs over long distances. Therefore, the study of AIV persistence in waterfowl staging and breeding areas is key to understanding their transmission dynamics and optimizing management strategies. Here, we used artificial streams mimicking natural conditions of waterfowl habitats in the Mediterranean climate (day/night cycles of photosynthetic active radiation and temperature, low water velocity, and similar microbiome to lowland rivers and stagnant water bodies) and then manipulated temperature and sediment presence (i.e., 10-13 °C vs. 16-18 °C, and presence vs. absence of sediments). An H1N1 low pathogenic AIV (LPAIV) strain was spiked in the streams, and water and sediment samples were collected at different time points until 14 days post-spike to quantify viral RNA and detect infectious particles. Viral RNA was detected until the end of the experiment in both water and sediment samples. In water samples, we observed a significant combined effect of temperature and sediments in viral decay, with higher viral genome loads in colder streams without sediments. In sediment samples, we didn't observe any significant effect of temperature. In contrast to prior laboratory-controlled studies that detect longer persistence times, infectious H1N1 LPAIV was isolated in water samples till 2 days post-spike, and none beyond. Infectious H1N1 LPAIV wasn't isolated from any sediment sample. Our results suggest that slow flowing freshwater surface waters may provide conditions facilitating bird-to-bird transmission for a short period when water temperature are between 10 and 18 °C, though persistence for extended periods (e.g., weeks or months) may be less likely. We hypothesize that experiments simulating real environments, like the one described here, provide a more realistic approach for assessing environmental persistence of AIVs.

The escape behaviour, measured as flight initiation distance (FID; the distance at which individuals take flight when approached by a potential predator, usually a human in the study systems), is a measure widely used to study fearfulness and risk-taking in animals. Previous studies have shown significant differences in the escape behaviour of birds inhabiting cemeteries and urban parks in European cities, where birds seem to be shyer in the latter. We collected a regional dataset of the FID of birds inhabiting cemeteries and parks across Latin America in peri-urban, suburban and urban parks and cemeteries. FIDs were recorded for eighty-one bird species. Mean species-specific FIDs ranged from 1.9 to 19.7 m for species with at least two observations (fifty-seven species). Using Bayesian regression modelling and controlling for the phylogenetic relatedness of the FID among bird species and city and country, we found that, in contrast to a recent publication from Europe, birds escape earlier in cemeteries than parks in the studied Latin American cities. FIDs were also significantly shorter in urban areas than in peri-urban areas and in areas with higher human density. Our results indicate that some idiosyncratic patterns in animal fearfulness towards humans may emerge among different geographic regions, highlighting difficulties with scaling up and application of regional findings to other ecosystems and world regions. Such differences could be associated with intrinsic differences between the pool of bird species from temperate European and mostly tropical Latin American cities, characterized by different evolutionary histories, but also with differences in the historical process of urbanization.

Antibiotics are widely used and ubiquitous in the environment, which in turn poses potential threat to human health. However, the effects of agricultural activities and river input on the fate and ecological risks of antibiotics in shallow lake are still poorly understood. Surface water, overlying water and pore water, sediments and aquatic plant samples in the historical planting subarea (PA), historical aquaculture subarea (AU), inflow subarea (IW), discharge subarea (DC), and conservation subarea (CK) of Baiyangdian Lake were collected and analyzed. Our results revealed that the total antibiotic concentrations ranged from 85.33 ng/L to 1631.47 ng/L in waters and from 66.90 ng/g to 177.03 ng/g in sediments. Generally, the total antibiotic concentrations introduced by planting activity in surface water, overlying water and sediments were higher and the levels of total antibiotics in pore water were more affected by river input. In addition, three quinolones (QNs) and two tetracyclines (TCs) were dominant antibiotics in almost five subareas. The pseudo-partitioning coefficient k

Environmental policies fall short in protecting freshwater ecosystems, which are heavily threatened by human pressures and their associated stressors. One reason is that stressor effects depend on the context in which they occur and it is difficult to extrapolate patterns to predict the effect of stressors without these being contextualized in a general frame. This study aims at improving existing decision-making frameworks such as the DPSIR approach (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) or ERA (Environmental Risk Assessment) in the context of stressors. Here, we delve into stressor-impact relationships in freshwater ecosystems and develop a guideline which includes key characteristics such as stressor type, stressor duration, location, the natural levels of environmental variables to which each ecosystem is used to, among others. This guideline is intended to be useful in a wide range of ecosystem conditions and stressors. Incorporating these guidelines may favor the comparability of scientific results and may lead to a substantial advancement in the efficacy of diagnosis and predictive approaches of impacts.

In 2004 migration and mortality for unknown reasons of the herbivorous Black necked swan (Cygnus melancorhyphus (Molina, 1782)) occurred within the Río Cruces wetland (southern Chile), a Ramsar Site and nature sanctuary. Before 2004, this wetland hosted the largest breeding population of this water bird in the Neotropic Realm. The concurrent decrease in the spatial occurrence of the aquatic plant Egeria densa Planch. 1849 - the main food source of swans - was proposed as a cause for swan migration and mortality. Additionally, post-mortem analyses carried out on swans during 2004 showed diminished body weight, high iron loads and histopathological abnormalities in their livers, suggesting iron storage disease. Various hypotheses were postulated to describe those changes; the most plausible related to variations in water quality after a pulp mill located upstream the wetland started to operate in February 2004. Those changes cascaded throughout the stands of E. densa whose remnants had high iron contents in their tissues. Here we present results of a long-term monitoring program of the wetland components, which show that swan population abundance, body weights and histological liver conditions recovered to pre-disturbance levels in 2012. The recovery of E. densa and iron content in plants throughout the wetland, also returned to pre-disturbance levels in the same 8-year time period. These results show the temporal scale over which resilience and natural restoring processes occur in wetland ecosystems of temperate regions such as southern Chile.

An increasing amount of carbon-based nanomaterials (CNM) (mostly fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene) has been observed in aquatic systems over the last years. However, the potential toxicity of these CNM on aquatic ecosystems remains unclear. This paper reviews the existing literature on the toxic effects of CNM in aquatic organisms as well as the toxic effects of CNM through influencing the toxicity of other micro-pollutants, and outlines a series of research needs to reduce the uncertainty associated with CNMs toxic effects. The results show that environmental concentrations of CNM do not pose a threat on aquatic organisms on their own. The observed concentrations of CNM in aquatic environments are in the order of ngL-1 or even lower, much below than the lowest observed effect concentrations (LOEC) on different aquatic organisms (in the order of mgL-1). Toxic effects have been mainly observed in short-term experiments at high concentrations, and toxicity principally depends on the type of organisms, exposition time and CNM preparation methods. Moreover, we observed that CNM interact (establishing synergistic and/or antagonistic effects) with other micro-pollutants. Apparently, the resulting interaction is highly dependent on the chemical properties of each micro-pollutant, CNM acting either as carriers or as sorbents, thereby modifying the original toxicity of the contaminants. Results stress the need of studying the interactive effects of CNM with other micro-pollutants at environmental relevant concentrations, as well as their effects on biological communities in the long-term.

This study proposed and validated a method integrating in situ hydrotalcite precipitation (Virtual Curtain™ (VC) technology) with bioprocess for treating a cyanide (CN)-augmented (ca. 5 mg-CN L−1) sulfate-laden neutral mine drainage, from a waste rock dump (WD2) of an Australian gold mine. Efficacies of various carbon (C) sources (ethanol, lactate, and two natural substrates; Eucalyptus wood sawdust (EW) and Typha biomass (TB)) for promoting microbial reduction in both: CN-augmented WD2 water and VC-treated CN-augmented WD2 water were assessed in a 60-days microcosms study at 30 °C. The microcosms were monitored over time for pH, redox potential, dissolved hydrogen sulfide, chloride, nitrite, nitrate, sulfate, phosphate, biogas production, dissolved organic carbon, total dissolved nitrogen, and dissolved CN. The VC treatment removed a range of metals (Mg, Ni and Zn) and metalloid Se from the CN-augmented WD2 water to below detection. Other elements substantially reduced in concentration included Ba, F, Si and U. However, the VC treatment did not remove substantial nitrate, sulfate or CN. Microcosm trials revealed that the indigenous microbial community in WD2 could effectively denitrify and reduce sulfate, with TB was the most efficient C source for promoting sulfate and CN removal; whereas, EW facilitated only marginally higher sulfate reduction compared with controls. The highest sulfate reduction rate (76 g-SO42− m−3 d−1) was achieved with VC-treated water amended with TB, indicating that VC pre-treatment was beneficial. Further, all treatments amended with external C, facilitated 100% removal of dissolved CN after 60 days, whereas only partial (65%) CN removal was recorded in the control. Overall, the proposed integrated method appears a viable option for treating neutral gold mine drainage.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and -furans (PCDD/Fs) were measured in a temperate, deep-sea ecosystem, the Avilés submarine Canyon (AC; Cantabrian Sea, Southern Bay of Biscay). There was an increase of contaminant concentration with the trophic level of the organisms, as calculated from stable nitrogen isotope data (δN). Such biomagnification was only significant for the pelagic food web and its magnitude was highly dependent on the type of top predators included in the analysis. The trophic magnification factor (TMF) for PCB-153 in the pelagic food web (spanning four trophic levels) was 6.2 or 2.2, depending on whether homeotherm top predators (cetaceans and seabirds) were included or not in the analysis, respectively. Since body size is significantly correlated with δN, it can be used as a proxy to estimate trophic magnification, what can potentially lead to a simple and convenient method to calculate the TMF. In spite of their lower biomagnification, deep-sea fishes showed higher concentrations than their shallower counterparts, although those differences were not significant. In summary, the AC fauna exhibits contaminant levels comparable or lower than those reported in other systems., This study was carried out within the framework of project DOSMARES (ref. CTM2010-21810-CO3-01) fromtheMinistry of Science and Innovation, Spanish Government to JLA. Authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) and European funding from FEDER programs for their financial support (projects AGL2012-37201 and S2013/ABI-3028 - AVANSECAL). SRRwas supported by a FPU fellowship (ref. 12/00851) fromtheMinistry of Education, Culture and Sports. We thank all the scientists and the crewof B/OSarmiento deGamboa and the Unidad de TecnologíaMarina (UTM) for their help with sampling. Drawings in Fig. 2 were made by Nadia Romero. We thank Luis Laria and CEPESMA for granting us access to cetacean and giant squid samples and to the CEP and SEO/BirdLife for bird samples. This is a contribution of the Asturias Marine Observatory.

Rivers are important ecosystem services providers in southern Chile; however, the microbiology of most rivers are understudied. This is particularly true for phosphorus (P) recycling by bacterial activity. Here, we studied the physicochemical properties, P contents, phosphomonoesterase (Pase) activities, and bacterial Pase genes (phoD, phoC, and phoX) in Chilean river sediments (Imperial and Tolten rivers, Chile) collected in sites with less and more degrees of anthropogenic influence during the summer and winter seasons. The richness, diversity, composition, and predicted function of the bacterial communities were addressed, as well as the spatiotemporal relationships among P-associated parameters and bacterial communities. Our results showed spatiotemporal variations, highlighting higher values of the temperature, conductivity, nutrients (C, N, P), Pase activity, and Pase genes in sediments collected in sites more anthropogenized during summer. In contrast, higher richness, diversity, and abundance of total bacteria were found in sediments collected in winter. The phylum Proteobacteria and heterotrophy were the most relatively abundant bacterial taxa and predicted function, respectively. The differentiation among winter and summer sediments was also revealed and the relationships between bacterial community and P-associated parameters were confirmed. Our analysis also highlighted the positive relationship between Pase genes with Gemmataceae, Xanthomonadaceae, and Chitinophagaceae families, and between Pase activity and Po with Chromatiaceae and Desulfobacteraceae families. This study represents an initial investigation aimed to unravel the compositions and relationships of bacterial communities with P recycling in these sediments, which are threatened by anthropogenic activity (e.g., agriculture, industry, cities, etc.). This information may be used in the design of countermeasures to prevent deterioration of Chilean rivers, which are relevant as ecosystem service providers.

Objective To examine the association between urinary metabolites of organophosphate (OP) pesticides and serum concentrations of thyroid and reproductive hormones in male adolescents and to assess the potential effect of interactions between OP pesticides and paraoxonase 1 (PON1) polymorphisms on hormone levels. Methods Study subjects (N = 117) were male 16- to 17-year-olds from the Environment and Childhood (INMA)-Granada cohort in Spain. Concentrations of 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy), a metabolite of chlorpyrifos/chlorpyrifos-methyl, 2-isopropyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinol (IMPy), a metabolite of diazinon, and diethylthiophosphate (DETP) and diethyldithiophosphate (DEDTP), non-specific metabolites of OP pesticides, were measured in a spot urine sample from each subject and adjusted for creatinine. Levels of reproductive hormones (total testosterone [TT], estradiol [E2], dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate [DHEAS], sex hormone binding globulin [SHBG], luteinizing hormone [LH], follicle stimulating hormone [FSH], anti-Mullerian hormone [AMH], insulin growth factor 1 [IGF-1], and prolactin), thyroid hormones (free thyroxine [FT4], total triiodothyronine [TT3], and thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH]), and PON1 Q192R and L55M polymorphisms were determined in blood drawn during the same clinical visit. Results Multiple linear regression models showed that detectable levels of TCPy were associated with an increase in DHEAS and decreases in E2, FSH, and AMH; detectable IMPy with increases in E2, DHEAS, FSH, AMH, and prolactin and decreases in SHBG and LH; and detectable DETP with marginally-significant increases in TT and TT3 and decreases in FSH, AMH, and prolactin. The effect of IMPy and DETP on DHEAS and TT levels, respectively, was higher in subjects that carried the PON1 55MM genotype, while the effect of TCPy, IMPy, and DETP on thyroid hormone levels was higher in PON1 192QR/RR or 55MM genotype carriers. Conclusions In male adolescents, non-occupational exposure to OP pesticides was associated with several changes in reproductive and thyroid hormone levels, and the magnitude of some associations was greater in adolescents genetically more susceptible to OP pesticide exposure who carry the PON1 55MM genotype.

Flow cessation affects river ecosystems submitted to low precipitation and increased water demand, and creates unfavourable conditions to aquatic biological communities. Diatoms are amongst the most sensitive biological groups to hydric stress, making them good indicators of preceding hydrological conditions. We here analyse the response of diatom assemblages to the duration and frequency of non-flow periods in 23 Mediterranean temporary streams. All of them experienced a strong decrease in water flow during summer, leading to a period of flow cessation. In addition, other ten permanent streams (zero dry days during the study period) were included in the study for comparative purposes. Temporary and permanent streams showed similar diatom species richness, evenness, and alpha diversity. However, beta diversity was higher in temporary than permanent streams, regardless rare taxa (

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology is a tool to face and mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks by evaluating conditions in a specific community. This study aimed to analyze the microbiome profiles using nanopore technology for full-length 16S rRNA sequencing in wastewater samples collected from a penitentiary (P), a residential care home (RCH), and a quarantine or health care facilities (HCF). During the study, the wastewater samples from the RCH and the P were negative for SARS-CoV-2 based on qPCRs, except during the fourth week when was detected. Unexpectedly, the wastewater microbiome from RCH and P prior to week four was correlated with the samples collected from the HCF, suggesting a core bacterial community is expelled from the digest tract of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2. The microbiota of wastewater sample positives for SARS-CoV-2 was strongly associated with enteric bacteria previously reported in patients with risk factors for COVID-19. We provide novel evidence that the wastewater microbiome associated with gastrointestinal manifestations appears to precede the SARS-CoV-2 detection in sewage. This finding suggests that the wastewaters microbiome can be applied as an indicator of community-wide SARS-CoV-2 surveillance., Graphical Abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • Nanopore 16S rRNA sequencing reveals species-specific profiling in wastewater. • Wastewater microbiome signals appears to precede SARS-CoV-2 detection in sewage. • Integrating microbiome analyses into WBE provided an early indicator for COVID-19.

Water management is a crucial tool for addressing the increasing uncertainties caused by climate change, biodiversity loss and the conditions of socioeconomic limits. The multiple factors affecting water resources need to be successfully managed to achieve optimal governance and thus move towards water security. This study seeks to obtain a holistic vision of the various threats that affect the ecological integrity of the basins that form the hydrological district of Galicia-Costa, through the method of partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM). The data is analysed overall for the hydrological years from 2009 to 2015. The independent latent variables are “Anthropogenic” (comprising the percentage of water bodies with edges alongside artificial surfaces, the percentage connected to artificial land use patches, the edge density of artificial surfaces and population density) and “Nature” (edge density of forestry land uses, edge length of land water bodies alongside forested areas and the percentage of land occupied by the largest patch of forest). The dependent latent variables are “SWP”, which represents surface water parameters (biological oxygen demand, chlorides, conductivity and dissolved iron) and “Ecological Integrity” (METI Bioindicator). The connections between latent variables are uantified through path coefficients (β). From an overall perspective, the PLS-PM results reveal that 69.0% of “SWP” is predicted by the independent variables (R2 = 0.690), “Anthropogenic” contributes by increasing SWP (β = 0.471), while “Nature” decreases the concentration of SWP (β = −0.523), which indicates the polluting parameters in the water. The variables “Anthropogenic” (β = −0.351) and “SWP” (β = −0.265) lower the quality of “Ecological Integrity”. This variable must be managed through soil conservation measures for the benefit of water security. This study has been able to identify and quantify the variables that increase contaminant concentration and decrease ecological integrity, providing a promising methodology that facilitates protection and correction measures to guarantee water safety. Xunta de Galicia | Ref. R815 131H 64502 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UID/AGR/04033/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/QUI/00616/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDP/00616/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. SFRH/BD/146151/2019

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This pathogen has spread rapidly across the world, causing high numbers of deaths and significant social and economic impacts. SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus with a suggested zoonotic origin with the potential for cross-species transmission among animals. Antarctica can be considered the only continent free of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, concerns have been expressed regarding the potential human introduction of this virus to the continent through the activities of research or tourism to minimise the effects on human health, and the potential for virus transmission to Antarctic wildlife. We assess the reverse-zoonotic transmission risk to Antarctic wildlife by considering the available information on host susceptibility, dynamics of the infection in humans, and contact interactions between humans and Antarctic wildlife. The environmental conditions in Antarctica seem to be favourable for the virus stability. Indoor spaces such as those at research stations, research vessels or tourist cruise ships could allow for more transmission among humans and depending on their movements between different locations the virus could be spread across the continent. Among Antarctic wildlife previous in silico analyses suggested that cetaceans are at greater risk of infection whereas seals and birds appear to be at a low infection risk. However, caution needed until further research is carried out and consequently, the precautionary principle should be applied. Field researchers handling animals are identified as the human group posing the highest risk of transmission to animals while tourists and other personnel pose a significant risk only when in close proximity (< 5 m) to Antarctic fauna. We highlight measures to reduce the risk as well as identify of knowledge gaps related to this issue., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • Conditions in Antarctica could be favourable for SARS-CoV-2 stability. • In silico analyses revealed that Cetaceans have a higher susceptibility to the virus. • Seals and birds seem to have a lower risk of infection. • Wildlife researchers have the highest risk of transmission to Antarctic fauna. • Tourists can be potential vectors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission to Antarctic fauna.

Urban pollution and hydrological stress are common stressors of stream ecosystems, but their combined effects on ecosystem functioning are still unclear. We measured a set of functional processes and accompanying environmental variables in locations upstream and downstream of urban sewage inputs in 13 streams covering a wide range of water pollution levels and hydrological variability. Sewage inputs seriously impaired stream chemical characteristics and led to complex effects on ecosystem functioning. Biofilm biomass accrual, whole-reach nutrient uptake and metabolism (ecosystem respiration) were generally subsidized, whereas organic matter decomposition and biofilm phosphorus uptake capacity decreased with increasing pollutant concentrations. Hydrological stress affected stream ecosystem functioning but its effect was minor compared to the effects of urban pollution, due to the large inter-site variability of the streams. Changes appeared mainly linked to the concentration of pharmaceutically active compounds, followed by other chemical characteristics and by hydrology. The results point to the need to further improve sewage treatment, especially as climate change will stress riverine organisms and reduce the dilution capacity of the receiving streams.

Current approaches have failed to deliver a truly integrated management of the different elements of the urban water system, such as freshwater ecosystems, drinking water treatment plants, distribution networks, sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants. Because the different parts of urban water have not been well integrated, poor decisions have been made for society in general, leading to the misuse of water resources, the degradation of freshwater ecosystems and increased overall treatment costs. Some attempts to solve environmental issues have adopted the ecosystem services concept in a more integrated approach, however this has rarely strayed far away from pure policy, and has made little impact in on-the-ground operational matters. Here, we present an improved decision-making framework to integrate the management of urban water systems. This framework uses the ecosystem service concept in a practical way to make a better use of both financial and water resources, while continuing to preserve the environment This research was supported by the European Communities 7thFramework Programme (SANITAS ITN Project agreement 289193); as well as by the individual fellowships Ramon y Cajal (RYC-2013-14595) and Marie Curie Career Integration Fellowship (PCIG9-GA-2011-293535) to Lluís Corominas, and a José Castillejo (CAS15-00163) to Vicenç Acuña. Authors also acknowledge the support from the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government (Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 291 - ICRA).

Antimicrobial resistance is a global emerging public health issue whose presence and impact in wildlife are widely unknown. Antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) are considered environmental contaminants, suitable to evaluate the degree of anthropic impact on wildlife and the environment. We used a wild felid, the guigna (Leopardus guigna), as a sentinel for the presence of ARGs in anthropized and pristine areas across their entire distribution range in Chile. We evaluated fecal samples from 51 wild guignas, collected between 2009 and 2018. Real-time PCR essays were employed to detect and quantify 22 selected ARGs in their fecal microbiome. All animals (100%) were positive for at least one ARG. The most prevalent ARG families were those that confer resistance to tetracycline (88.2%) and beta-lactamase (68.9%), with tet(Q) (60.8%), tet(W) (60.8%), and bla