A modified protocol for sex identification of in ovo avian embryos and its application as a management tool for endangered species conservation programs.

A simple, reliable, and safe protocol was developed for the collection of small amounts of blood from avian eggs of variable size and at early stages of development. Fifty eggs were used in the study; 40 were common chicken (Gallus domesticus) eggs, six were homing pigeon (Columba livia domestica) eggs, and four were burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) eggs. Collection was attempted approximately halfway through incubation. The success rate for collection of blood or blood-tinged fluid from eggs was high, averaging 68% in the chicken eggs, 100% in the homing pigeon eggs, and 75% in the burrowing owl eggs. Collection did not affect subsequent hatchability. This blood could then be used to determine the sex of the embryo by utilizing a DNA probe or restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. Sex identification in ovo allowed the demographic management of small populations of birds within our institution.

Accumulation of anthropogenic radionuclides in cryoconites on Alpine glaciers.

Cryoconites are airborne sediments which accumulate on the surface of glaciers. In samples of cryoconites a temperate Austrian glacier high activity concentrations of anthropogenic radionuclides were found, which stem from global and Chernobyl fallouts. Radionuclides identified were (137)Cs, (134)Cs, (238)Pu, (239+240)Pu, (90)Sr, (241)Am, (60)Co, (154)Eu, (207)Bi, and (125)Sb. Given the approximately known isotopic ratios, Cs and Pu can be separated into the contributions of either source of origin. Published (137)Cs/(134)Cs and (239+240)Pu/(238)Pu ratios were used for the discrimination of the Dachstein-glacier cryoconites according to their origin from global or Chernobyl fallout. Two different groups of cryoconites were identified, an older population dominated by nuclear weapons fallout and a younger one with predominant Chernobyl fallout. With those data a simple model was formulated to demonstrate the transition and mixing of these two populations on the glacier surface.