This work describes the ecological characteristics of the intestinal helminth communities of 50 wolves (Canis lupus L.) from Spain. The species found were classified into three groups according to prevalence, intensity and intestinal distribution. Taenia hydatigena Pallas, 1766 and Uncinaria stenocephala (Railliet, 1884) are the core species of the community. Taenia multiceps (Leske, 1780) is a secondary species. The rest of the species, Alaria alata (Goeze, 1782), Taenia serialis (Gervais, 1847), Taenia pisiformis (Bloch, 1780), Dipylidium caninum (Linnaeus, 1758), Mesocestoides sp. aff. litteratus, Toxocara canis (Werner, 1782), Toxascaris leonina (von Linstow, 1902), Ancylostoma caninum (Ercolani, 1859) and Trichuris vulpis (Froelich, 1789), behave as satellite species. The linear intestinal distribution of all helminth species was analysed. The location of most species can be considered predictable, especially for core and secondary species. The analysis of interspecific relationships between infracommunities shows that negative associations are more numerous than positive associations. The role of A. caninum in the community is compared with that of U. stenocephala.
Studies on nocturnal Lepidoptera were carried out on the Laukėnai raised bog and the adjacent wet forest in 2001. Species composition and abundance were evaluated and compared. The species richness was much higher in the forest than at the bog. The core of each lepidopteran community was composed of 22 species with an abundance of higher than 1.0% of the total catch. Tyrphophilous Hypenodes humidalis (22.0% of all individuals) and Nola aerugula (13.0%) were the dominant species in the raised bog community, while tyrphoneutral Pelosia muscerda (13.6%) and Eilema griseola (8.3%) were the most abundant species at the forest site. Five tyrphobiotic and nine tyrphophilous species made up 43.4% of the total catch on the bog, and three and seven species, respectively, at the forest site, where they made up 9.2% of all individuals. 59% of lepidopteran species recorded on the bog and 36% at the forest site were represented by less than five individuals. The species compositions of these communities showed a weak similarity. Habitat preferences of the tyrphobiontic and tyrphophilous species and dispersal of some of the species between the habitats are discussed.
Previously published multidisciplinary studies in the Miramichi and Bouctouche rivers (New Brunswick, Canada) noted significant changes in fish health parameters, including elevated tissue levels of organic contaminants and a wide range of physiological disturbances, in mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus (L.) from a site on the Miramichi River that received bleached kraft pulpmill and municipal effluent. The present study reports differences in the abundance of individual parasite species, as well as parasite infracommunity and component community composition, in mummichog from both rivers. These differences were evaluated in relation to host (size, condition, immune function, tissue organochlorine contaminant levels) and environmental (faecal coliform counts, salinity, temperature) data derived from the previously published studies. Overall, 18 parasite species were identified, the most common of which were Ascocotyle sp. larv., Ornithodiplostomum sp. larv., Posthodiplostomum sp. larv., and Proteocephalus filicollis (Rudolphi, 1802). There were broad differences in parasite community structure and composition between rivers and within rivers, the most prominent pattern being a pronounced difference between sites in the upper and lower estuary of each river that was likely driven by salinity. Mean infracommunity richness was also positively related to faecal coliforms (considered here as a surrogate measure of eutrophication via municipal sewage), and both were highest at the most polluted site. We noted no other significant relationships. Thus our data suggest that the parasite communities in these two estuaries were primarily structured by large upstream / downstream ecological gradients in salinity, and secondarily by eutrophication due to pollution by municipal and industrial effluents. Overall, our results highlight the value of coordinated multidisciplinary studies for understanding the factors that shape parasite abundance and community structure.
Článek se zabývá sebepoškozováním jako maladaptivní copingovou strategií v období adolescence. Důraz je kladen zejména na roli, kterou u tohoto fenoménu hraje reálné a virtuální prostředí, v němž se adolescenti pohybují. Výzkum je explorativního charakteru, data byla získána prostřednictvím polostrukturovaných online rozhovorů s 9 adolescentkami ve věku 15 – 18 let, které na svém blogu (online deníčku) píší o sebepoškozování, a analyzována s využitím metody zakotvené teorie.
Bylo zjištěno, že reálné i virtuální prostředí může mít významný vliv na vznik sebepoškozujícího jednání u adolescentů, jeho charakter a prožívání. Obě dvě sféry mohou být prostředníky pro šíření povědomí o sebepoškozování, potažmo zdrojem šíření sebepoškozování samotného. Ačkoli je online prostředí dívkami vnímáno jako podpůrné, k ukončení sebepoškozování na rozdíl od reálného sociálního okolí patrně nepřispívá. Naopak se objevilo riziko normalizace sebepoškozování na základě sdílení informací na blozích. Skutečné sociální prostředí je pak důležitým pomocníkem při ukončení sebepoškozování.
Průsečíkem reálného a virtuálního prostředí adolescentů pak mohou být subkultury mládeže (v tomto případě Emo a Gothic). Souvislost těchto subkultur a sebepoškozování je v současnosti poměrně hojně medializována. V našem výzkumu jsme přímou souvislost mezi sebepoškozováním a těmito subkulturami neprokázali. and The article focuses on self harming as maladaptive coping strategy in adolescents. The role of real and virtual environment of adolescents, which is important for this phenomenon, is emphasized. The research is of explorative character, data has been collected through half-structured online interviews with 9 adolescent girls aged 15 through 18, who write about self harming on their blogs (online diaries), and analysed using the grounded theory method.
It has been found that both real and virtual environment can have a huge impact on the emergence of self harming behavior in adolescents, its character and experiencing. Both environments might act as a medium for spreading knowledge of self harming and even as a source of self harming itself. Although the self harming online community is being looked at as supportive, it did not bring an end to self harming behavior in the case of our respondents, unlike the real social environment. On the contrary, the risk of normalisation of this behavior by sharing information on blogs occurred. The real social environment is then an important helper in ending the self harming behavior. The intersection of real and virtual environment of adolescents might be the Emo and Gothic subcultures. The connection of subcultures and self harming is being widely discussed by media in these days. In our research we did not prove such a connection.