Relicts from Glacial Times: The Ground Beetle Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz, 1823 (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the Austrian Alps.

The last ice age considerably influenced distribution patterns of extant species of plants and animals, with some of them now inhabiting disjunct areas in the subarctic/arctic and alpine regions. This arctic-alpine distribution is characteristic for many cold-adapted species with a limited dispersal ability and can be found in many invertebrate taxa, including ground beetles. The ground beetle Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz, 1823 of the subgenus Bothriopterus was previously known to have a holarctic-circumpolar distribution, in Europe reaching its southern borders in Wales and southern Scandinavia. Here, we report the first findings of this species from the Austrian Ötztal Alps, representing also the southernmost edge of its currently known distribution, confirmed by the comparison of morphological characters to other Bothriopterus species and DNA barcoding data. Molecular data revealed a separation of the Austrian and Finish specimens with limited to no gene flow at all. Furthermore, we present the first data on habitat preference and seasonality of P. adstrictus in the Austrian Alps.

Environmental and economic assessment of food-packaging systems with a focus on food waste. Case study on tomato ketchup.

In this paper, a sustainability evaluation method for food-packaging systems is proposed. First, food waste due to poor emptiability was determined. Then, these quantities were included in life cycle assessments (LCA) and life cycle costing (value added, VA) of the products. Finally, LCA and VA results were combined using multi-criteria decision analysis, Technique for Order by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), in order to identify the most sustainable food packaging system. As a case study, four different ketchup products were examined. For ketchup in polypropylene bottles, FLW resulting from poor emptiability ranged from 13.12% (±2.05) to 28.80% (±3.30) respectively, while this was only 3.85% (±0.41) for ketchup packaged in glass. After integrating the emptiability results into life cycle assessments, this resulted in greenhouse gas emissions of 5.66 to 9.16 kg CO2eq per 3.80 kg consumed ketchup, the average consumption per capita in Austria. Importantly, poor emptiability of the examined products led to greater environmental impacts than the associated packaging. While greater product loss also pushes up the costs for consumers, it contributes to more value added to the economic system, which is in stark contrast to the goal of decoupling the economy from resource consumption.

The Cryptic Bombus lucorum Complex (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Austria: Phylogeny, Distribution, Habitat Usage and a Climatic Characterization Based on COI Sequence Data.

Silas Bossert, Barbara-Amina Gereben-Krenn, Johann Neumayer, Bernhard Schneller, and Harald W. Krenn (2016) The Bombus lucorum complex represents a group of three distinct but cryptic bumblebee species in Europe. With the advent of DNA-based identification methods, their species status was confirmed and the use of COI barcoding proved to be an especially useful tool for species identification within the group. Meanwhile, the identification based on morphology remains difficult and recent studies challenged the general distinguishability by revealing an important character to be unreliable. This has consequences for our understanding of the distribution and ecology of the species in Europe and aggravates our patchy knowledge of the situation in Austria and the whole area of the European Alps. In this study, we investigate the exact species composition and distribution of the Bombus lucorum complex in Austria based on the reliable species identification with COI sequence data. The habitat usage is studied and the first extensive investigation of altitudinal and climatic differentiation is provided. The results support three distinct genotypic groups in the Bombus lucorum complex. B. lucorum and B. cryptarum co-occur in several areas across the country, with B. lucorum being the most common and most widespread species. The study provides no evidence for the presence of B. magnus in Austria. The less common species, B. cryptarum, mainly occurs in the high mountains and is the predominant species of the complex above altitudes of 2100 m a.s.l. Further, B. cryptarum is almost absent from woodlands and is relatively more abundant in habitats with colder climate than B. lucorum in Austria. Additionally, the results indicate a very low intraspecific genetic variation within B. lucorum and B. cryptarum. This study confirms previous findings of three distinct species within the species complex. Based on reliable COI identification, the first coherent overview of the species complex in Austria can be achieved. The climatic data allows us to explain the differences in the distribution patterns. Moreover, the low intraspecific variation may indicate past bottleneck conditions for B. lucorum and B. cryptarum.