a b s t r a c tFungal endophytes present in different asymptomatic grapevine plants (Vitis vinifera L.) located in different vineyards within Alentejo, a highly important viticulture region in Portugal, were identified in this study. Sampled grapevine plants included the three most representative cultivars in the region, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Aragonez, growing under two different modes of management, conventional and biological. Sixteen fungal taxa were identified through sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region. Total number of endophytic fungi isolated showed significant differences both in management mode and in cultivars, with higher numbers in grapevines under conventional mode and from Syrah cultivar. The composition of fungal endophytic communities did not show significant differences among cultivars, but differences were observed between fungal communities isolated from grapevines under biological or conventional modes. The most fungal taxa isolated from grapevines cultivated under biological mode were Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium sp., and Nigrospora oryzae, and under conventional mode Botrytis cinerea, Epicoccum nigrum, and Epicoccum sp. These differences suggest that the different products used in grapevine production have impacts in fungal endophytic composition. Further investigation of the identified fungi with respect to their antagonistic characteristics and potential use in plant protection to ensure food safety is now in course.

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Most laboratory tests may underestimate adverse effects in real scenarios of contamination because they imply the forced exposure of organisms to contaminants, thus overlooking the possibility of emigration. Avoidance from contaminants has been observed in several aquatic organisms, and avoidance-based tests have been recommended to be included in risk assessment studies. To reduce uncertainty in the extrapolation of laboratory derived results, the first aim of the present study was to compare both the median avoidance concentration and the lowest-observed-effect gradient (LOEG) values of atrazine for the cladoceran Daphnia magna, between an already developed 1.1-m-long system and a scaled-up system, three times longer. Second, the present study aimed at evaluating the population immediate decline--the proportion of the population that disappears (avoids and, if not, dies)--through the integration of the relationships between lethality and avoidance versus contaminant concentration. Daphnia magna significantly avoided atrazine, during 12-h exposures, with similar results in the original and scaled-up systems. The population immediate decline at the 48-h median lethal concentration would be 94%. Even at a concentration eliciting only 5% mortality, the population immediate decline would be over 50%. Achieving a higher pertinence of avoidance results and a better understanding of the LOEG values and their time dependence, scaling up the system further both spatially and temporally, and modeling explicit spatial dynamics in exposure and organism movement in space and time are needed.

Abstract. This study examines the resource use and trophic position of nematodes and harpacticoid copepods at the genus/species level in an estuarine food web in Zostera noltii beds and in adjacent bare sediments using the natural abundance of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. Microphytobenthos and/or epiphytes are among the main resources of most taxa, but seagrass detritus and sediment particulate organic matter contribute as well to meiobenthos nutrition, which are also available in deeper sediment layers and in unvegetated patches close to seagrass beds. A predominant dependence on chemoautotrophic bacteria was demonstrated for the nematode genus Terschellingia and the copepod family Cletodidae. A predatory feeding mode is illustrated for Paracomesoma and other Comesomatidae, which were previously considered first-level consumers (deposit feeders) according to their buccal morphology. The considerable variation found in both resource use and trophic level among nematode genera from the same feeding type, and even among congeneric nematode species, shows that the interpretation of nematode feeding ecology based purely on mouth morphology should be avoided.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis was used to examine the resources and position of macrobenthos in an estuarine seagrass food web in two sampling moments, during summer and winter. The contribution of each food source to the carbon requirements of consumers was estimated by a mixing model. The used carbon sources were largely seagrass associated, although seagrass tissues were utilized by only few species, and equally contributed to microphytobenthos and suspended particulate organic matter. Based on isotopic data, Lucinidae bivalves have an alternative trophic pathway via symbiosis with chemoautotrophic bacteria. Resource utilization inside and adjacent to seagrass beds did not differ significantly, implying that seagrass-associated inputs extend well beyond the borders of the vegetation patches