**6. Conclusions**

Several examples of breed-related tolerance to diseases have been reported worldwide but often the claims made for specific breeds have not been subject to scientific investigation. As to small ruminants, only tolerance to Heartwater (Cowdriosis) has been documented for Damara, a South African native sheep breed (Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, 2007). This report extends our knowledge about tolerance to tick borne diseases. The main findings can be summarized in the following points:

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### **7. Aknowledgements**

The earlier experiences reported in this work were supported by Bari University and/or the Italian Ministry for University and Research. The last section is part of a project sponsored by the Italian Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies (MIPAAF) for the improvement of animal breeding by means of molecular genetics (SELMOL). As far as the expert identification of TBP, the Authors are deeply endebted to Dr. Alessandra Torina head of the national reference laboratory for *tick*-*borne* diseases (C.R.A.BA.R.T.- Istituto Zooprolattico Sperimentale della Sicilia ''A. Mirri'', Palermo, Italy). The authors are grateful to Dr. Rosanna Lacinio for the quality of her technical support at the haematology laboratory of the Veterinary Clinic of Bari University along years of collaboration. The authors are also grateful to Dr. Athina Papa for her accuracy in revising the English of the manuscript.

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**The Foragining Ecology of the Green Turtle** 

Gustavo Hinojosa-Arango2, Mónica Lara-Uc3 and Susan Gardner4 *1Programa de Investigación en Botánica Marina, Departamento de Biología Marina,* 

*4Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz Baja California Sur,* 

Conservation of threatened species, such as the green turtle (*Chelonia mydas*), is closely related to habitat quality. In particular there are issues related to heavy metals, the presence of epibionts, parasites and fibropapiloms who might play a crucial role in the species survivorship. Heavy metals occur naturally in the environment (Sparling et al., 2000) as part of the biogeochemical cycles (Valiela, 2009), and it is often difficult to differentiate between natural and anthropogenic sources (Kieffer, 1991; Moreno, 2003). In marine systems, natural processes (e.g., upwelling, river runoff) can redistribute and concentrate heavy metals in the environment, occasionally reaching toxic levels (Sparling et al., 2000; Machado et al., 2002). The effects of these processes may vary over seasonal and spatial scales (Sawidis et al., 2001) and their understanding can aid in determining the sources as biomonitors (Szefer et al., 1998; Páez-Osuna et al.,2000), and ultimately their effects on wild life (Sparling et al., 2000; Talavera-Saenz et al., 2007). Also, they can be used for bioabsorption in contaminated waters (Kumar and Kaladharan, 2006). Caliceti et al. (2002) found a decrease in Zinc and Cadmium concentrations from the center of a lagoon, close to an industrial district, towards the Venice lagoon (Italy) openings to the sea, suggesting anthropogenic sources, while Villares et al. (2002) found that seasonal and spatial variation in metals was related to algal growth cycles and river runoff. Riosmena-Rodriguez et al. (2010) determined that heavy metals are related to the physiological features of each major analyzed taxon (green algae, red algae and

The processes controlling the concentration and distribution of metals in coastal environments and their consequences in the species health are poorly understood. It is generally assumed that diet is the main source of metals to sea turtles (Caurant et al., 1999; Anan et al., 2001), but little is known of the process of metal accumulation in these species because data on metal residues in most components of sea turtles' diet has been lacking. As

**1. Introduction** 

seagrasses).

*Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz Baja California Sur,* 

Rafael Riosmena-Rodriguez1, Ana Luisa Talavera-Saenz1,

*3Depto. de Virología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia,* 

*2The School for Field Studies, Puerto de Acapulco s/n,* 

*Puerto San Carlos, Baja California Sur* 

*UADY, Mérida, Yucatán,* 

*México* 

**in the Baja California Peninsula: Health Issues** 

Youatt, W. (1867). *Sheep: their breeds, management, and diseases*. Orange Judd & Co., New York. **25** 
