Community management yields positive impacts for coastal fisheries resources and biodiversity conservation

Combining no-take marine reserves with exclusive access by communities to unreserved waters could provide the required incentives for community management to achieve positive impacts. However, few protected areas have been critically evaluated for their impact, which involves applying counterfactual thinking to predict conditions within protected areas if management had never occurred. Here, we use statistical matching to conduct a rigorous impact evaluation of dual management systems on coral reef fishes in Tonga, with communities having both full no-take areas and areas of exclusive fishing rights. No-take areas generally had positive impacts on the species richness, biomass, density, and size of target reef fish, while exclusive access areas were similar to predicted counterfactual conditions. The latter is likely because overall fishing pressure in exclusive access areas might not actually change, although more fish could be exploited by communities with access rights. Our findings suggest that dual management is effective at incentivizing effective community-based no-take areas for biodiversity conservation and resource management

Cumulative effects of cyclones and bleaching on coral cover and species richness at Lizard Island

Funding was provided by the Australian Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (COE140100020) and the John Templeton Foundation (M.D., J.S.M. grant #60501 'Putting the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis to the Test’).Coral reefs are being subjected to an increase in the frequency and intensity of disturbance, such as bleaching and cyclones, and it is important to document the effects of such disturbance on reef coral assemblages. Between March 2014 and May 2017, the reefs of Lizard Island in the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef were affected by 4 consecutive disturbances: severe tropical cyclones Ita and Nathan in 2014 and 2015, and mass bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. Loss of coral cover following the cyclones was patchy and dependent on the direction of the waves generated. In contrast, loss of cover following bleaching was much more uniform. Overall, coral cover declined 5-fold from 36% pre-cyclone Ita to 7% post-bleaching in 2017, while mean species richness dropped from 10 to 4 species per transect. The spatial scale and magnitude of the loss of coral cover in the region suggests that it will be many years before these reefs recover.PostprintPeer reviewe

Consensus Guidelines for Advancing Coral Holobiont Genome and Specimen Voucher Deposition

Coral research is being ushered into the genomic era. To fully capitalize on the potential discoveries from this genomic revolution, the rapidly increasing number of high-quality genomes requires effective pairing with rigorous taxonomic characterizations of specimens and the contextualization of their ecological relevance. However, to date there is no formal framework that genomicists, taxonomists, and coral scientists can collectively use to systematically acquire and link these data. Spurred by the recently announced “Coral symbiosis sensitivity to environmental change hub” under the “Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics Project” - a collaboration between the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to generate gold-standard genome sequences for coral animal hosts and their associated Symbiodiniaceae microalgae (among the sequencing of many other symbiotic aquatic species) - we outline consensus guidelines to reconcile different types of data. The metaorganism nature of the coral holobiont provides a particular challenge in this context and is a key factor to consider for developing a framework to consolidate genomic, taxonomic, and ecological (meta)data. Ideally, genomic data should be accompanied by taxonomic references, i.e., skeletal vouchers as formal morphological references for corals and strain specimens in the case of microalgal and bacterial symbionts (cultured isolates). However, exhaustive taxonomic characterization of all coral holobiont member species is currently not feasible simply because we do not have a comprehensive understanding of all the organisms that constitute the coral holobiont. Nevertheless, guidelines on minimal, recommended, and ideal-case descriptions for the major coral holobiont constituents (coral animal, Symbiodiniaceae microalgae, and prokaryotes) will undoubtedly help in future referencing and will facilitate comparative studies. We hope that the guidelines outlined here, which we will adhere to as part of the Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics Project sub-hub focused on coral symbioses, will be useful to a broader community and their implementation will facilitate cross- and meta-data comparisons and analyses.CV acknowledges funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG), grants 433042944 and 458901010. Open Access publication fees are covered by an institutional agreement of the University of Konstanz

The First Hyper-luminous Infrared Galaxy Discovered by WISE

We report the discovery by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) of the z = 2.452 source WISE J181417.29+341224.9, the first hyperluminous source found in the WISE survey. WISE 1814+3412 is also the prototype for an all-sky sample of ~1000 extremely luminous "W1W2-dropouts" (sources faint or undetected by WISE at 3.4 and 4.6 μm and well detected at 12 or 22 μm). The WISE data and a 350 μm detection give a minimum bolometric luminosity of 3.7 × 10^(13) L_☉, with ~10^(14) L_☉ plausible. Follow-up images reveal four nearby sources: a QSO and two Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z = 2.45, and an M dwarf star. The brighter LBG dominates the bolometric emission. Gravitational lensing is unlikely given the source locations and their different spectra and colors. The dominant LBG spectrum indicates a star formation rate ~300 M_☉ yr^(–1), accounting for ≲ 10% of the bolometric luminosity. Strong 22 μm emission relative to 350 μm implies that warm dust contributes significantly to the luminosity, while cooler dust normally associated with starbursts is constrained by an upper limit at 1.1 mm. Radio emission is ~10 times above the far-infrared/radio correlation, indicating an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is present. An obscured AGN combined with starburst and evolved stellar components can account for the observations. If the black hole mass follows the local M BH-bulge mass relation, the implied Eddington ratio is ≳ 4. WISE 1814+3412 may be a heavily obscured object where the peak AGN activity occurred prior to the peak era of star formation

Garden and landscape-scale correlates of moths of differing conservation status: significant effects of urbanization and habitat diversity

Moths are abundant and ubiquitous in vegetated terrestrial environments and are pollinators, important herbivores of wild plants, and food for birds, bats and rodents. In recent years, many once abundant and widespread species have shown sharp declines that have been cited by some as indicative of a widespread insect biodiversity crisis. Likely causes of these declines include agricultural intensification, light pollution, climate change, and urbanization; however, the real underlying cause(s) is still open to conjecture. We used data collected from the citizen science Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to explore the spatial association between the abundance of 195 widespread British species of moth, and garden habitat and landscape features, to see if spatial habitat and landscape associations varied for species of differing conservation status. We found that associations with habitat and landscape composition were species-specific, but that there were consistent trends in species richness and total moth abundance. Gardens with more diverse and extensive microhabitats were associated with higher species richness and moth abundance; gardens near to the coast were associated with higher richness and moth abundance; and gardens in more urbanized locations were associated with lower species richness and moth abundance. The same trends were also found for species classified as increasing, declining and vulnerable under IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria

Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals

During 2015–2016, record temperatures triggered a pan-tropical episode of coral bleaching, the third global-scale event since mass bleaching was first documented in the 1980s. Here we examine how and why the severity of recurrent major bleaching events has varied at multiple scales, using aerial and underwater surveys of Australian reefs combined with satellite-derived sea surface temperatures. The distinctive geographic footprints of recurrent bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 1998, 2002 and 2016 were determined by the spatial pattern of sea temperatures in each year. Water quality and fishing pressure had minimal effect on the unprecedented bleaching in 2016, suggesting that local protection of reefs affords little or no resistance to extreme heat. Similarly, past exposure to bleaching in 1998 and 2002 did not lessen the severity of bleaching in 2016. Consequently, immediate global action to curb future warming is essential to secure a future for coral reefs

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

Abyssopathes lyriformis , Opresko 2002

<i>Abyssopathes lyriformis</i>, Opresko (2002) <p>(FIgS. 1 ANd 2)</p> <p> <i>Abyssopathes lyriformis</i>, Opresko (2002): 421; Molodtsova & Opresko (2017): 355.</p> <p> <b>Material examined:</b> MTQ MATeRIAL (PReSeRVed IN eTHYL ALCOHOL): G62078 (STATION dATA IN TAbLe 1).</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis</b> (AfTeR OPReSkO 2002): CORALLUM MONOPOdIAL ANd PINNULATe. PINNULeS ARRANged IN TWO LATeRAL OR ANTeROLATeRAL ROWS ANd ONe MULTIPLe ANTeRIOR ROW CONTAININg TWO TO THRee TIMeS THe NUMbeR Of PINNULeS IN eITHeR LATeRAL ROW. LATeRAL PINNULeS SIMPLe; ANTeRIOR PINNULeS USUALLY WITH ONe, RAReLY TWO, SeCONdARY PINNULeS. TeRTIARY PINNULeS VeRY RAReLY PReSeNT ON SOMe SeCONdARY ANTeRIOR PINNULeS. BASAL LATeRAL PINNULeS CURVed POSTeRIORLY (AWAY fROM SIde WITH ANTeRIOR PINNULeS), WITH dISTAL eNdS Of THOSe IN ONe ROW dIReCTed TOWARdS THOSe IN OPPOSITe ROW, THUS fORMINg A SOMeWHAT OPeN fUNNeL-LIke STRUCTURe. DISTAL LATeRAL PINNULeS ONLY SLIgHTLY CURVed OR STRAIgHT. PINNULATed SeCTION Of CORALLUM INCLINed TO SUbSTRATe dUe TO ~45° beNd IN STeM NeAR bASe. LATeRAL PINNULeS 4 MM TO 5 MM APART, ReSULTINg IN 14 PINNULeS TOTAL PeR 3 CM. DeNSITY Of ANTeRIOR PINNULeS UP TO 13 PeR 2 CM. SPINeS ON THe LATeRAL PINNULeS CONICAL, COMPReSSed, 0.02 MM TO 0.04 MM LONg; THOSe ON ANTeRIOR PINNULeS ANd SUbPINNULeS UP TO 0.06 MM LONg ANd OfTeN INCLINed dISTALLY. THRee TO fOUR ROWS Of SPINeS SeeN IN LATeRAL VIeW; WITH THRee TO 11 SPINeS PeR 1 MM IN eACH ROW. POLYPS UNkNOWN.</p> <p> <b>Description of the CIDARIS Specimen:</b> THe CIDARIS SPeCIMeN IS LIke THe TYPe IN bOTH THe ~45° ANgLe MAde beTWeeN THe PINNULATed SeCTION Of CORALLUM ANd THe SUbSTRATe (FIgURe 2A) ANd IN THe ARRANgeMeNT Of ANd dISTANCe beTWeeN PRIMARY PINNULeS. FOR eXAMPLe, THe LOWeST SeT Of LATeRAL PINNULeS ARe NeARLY OPPOSITe WITH THe ReST ALTeRNATINg UP THe STeM WITH dISTANCeS Of ~4 MM beTWeeN eACH ON ONe SIde Of THe STeM, ReSULTINg IN TWO TO THRee PINNULeS PeR 1 CM (FIgURe 2b). LATeRAL PINNULe deNSITY IS LIke THe TYPe IN THAT 14 PINNULeS CAN be COUNTed PeR 3 CM PROXIMALLY TO 12 PeR 3 CM APICALLY (COUNTINg PINNULeS ON bOTH SIdeS Of THe STeM) (FIgURe 2b). THRee ROWS Of SPINeS ON LATeRAL PINNULeS CAN be SeeN fROM ONe ASPeCT (FIgURe 2C) WITH AbOUT THRee TO fOUR SPINeS PeR 1 MM IN eACH ROW. SPINeS ARe TRIANgULAR OR ROUNded, COMPReSSed, ANd 0.01 MM TO 0.03 MM TALL (FIgURe 2C). ANTeRIOR PINNULeS ARe PReSeNT IN ASSOCIATION WITH MORe THAN HALf Of THe LATeRAL PINNULeS, RANge beTWeeN 0.05 MM ANd 3 MM IN LeNgTH, ANd HAVe eITHeR NONe OR ONe SeCONdARY PINNULe. THe MAXIMUM deNSITY Of THe ANTeRIOR PINNULeS IS 7 PeR 2 CM WHICH IS LeSS THAN THe 13 PeR 2 CM RePORTed fOR THe TYPe (FIgURe 2A). SPINeS ON ANTeRIOR PINNULeS ARe IRRegULARLY ANgLed, WITH MOST SPINeS eLONgATed ANd INCLINed dISTALLY ANd SOMe LeSS INCLINed/ TRIANgULAR, ALL Of WHICH ARe 0.03 MM TO 0.04 MM TALL (FIgURe 2d).</p> <p> <b>Remarks:</b> <i>Abyssopathes lyriformis</i> IS CLOSeLY ReLATed TO A. <i>lyra</i>, HOWeVeR A. <i>lyriformis</i> HAS SeCONdARY PINNULeS WHILe A. <i>lyra</i> dOeS NOT (OR ONLY RAReLY). <i>A. lyriformis</i> ALSO HAS: 1) A HIgHeR deNSITY Of LATeRAL PINNULeS (14 PeR 3 CM VeRSUS 8 PeR 3 CM; 2) A HIgHeR deNSITY Of ANTeRIOR PINNULeS (13 PeR 2 CM VeRSUS <8 PeR 2 CM); ANd, 3) LARgeR SPINeS ON THe ANTeRIOR PINNULeS THAN ON LATeRAL PINNULeS, WHeReAS <i>A</i>. <i>lyra</i> HAS SUbeqUAL SPINe SIzeS ON LATeRAL ANd ANTeRIOR PINNULeS. LATeRAL PINNULe deNSITY Of THe CIDARIS SPeCIMeN IS LIke <i>A. lyriformis</i>, HOWeVeR THe ANTeRIOR PINNULe deNSITY IS LOWeR THAN THe TYPe (SeVeN PINNULeS PeR 2 CM). A LOWeR deNSITY Of ANTeRIOR PINNULeS WAS ALSO fOUNd IN A SPeCIMeN IdeNTIfIed AS <i>A. lyriformis</i> deSCRIbed IN MOLOdTSOVA & OPReSkO (2017) (eIgHT TO 12 PeR 2 CM). ALSO, LIke THe CIDARIS SPeCIMeN, MOLOdTSOVA & OPReSkO (2017) RePORTed ANTeRIOR PINNULeS WITH SMALLeR SPINeS THAN THe TYPe. THIS eITHeR ReVeALS PLASTICITY AMONg THeSe feATUReS OR POTeNTIALLY TWO dIffeReNT SPeCIeS, WARRANTINg geNeTIC TeSTS fOR CONfIRMATION.</p> <p> <b>Distribution:</b> THIS SPeCIeS HAS beeN RePORTed fROM THe CeNTRAL PACIfIC, SOUTHeRN, WeST INdIAN, ANd WeST ATLANTIC OCeANS fROM dePTHS Of 3,475 M TO 4,892 M, ANd THIS STUdY eXPANdS THe dISTRIbUTION TO THe CORAL SeA, AUSTRALIA AT 2,542 M (FIgURe 1C), A RANge eXPANSION Of> 4,000 kM ANd dePTH RANge eXPANSION Of> 1,000 M.</p>Published as part of <i>Horowitz, Jeremy, Opresko, Dennis M. & Bridge, Tom C. L., 2018, Black corals (Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from the deep (916 m - 2542 m) Coral Sea, north-eastern Australia, pp. 307-326 in Zootaxa 4472 (2)</i> on pages 311-312, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4472.2.5, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/1440225">http://zenodo.org/record/1440225</a&gt

Schizopathes affinis BROOk 1889

<i>Schizopathes affinis</i> Brook, 1889 <p>(FIgS. 1 ANd 6)</p> <p> <i>Schizopathes affinis</i>, Molodtsova & Opresko (2017): 360 –361 (complete synonymy).</p> <p> <b>Material examined:</b> MTQ MATeRIAL (PReSeRVed IN eTHYL ALCOHOL): G61837, G61944, G61951, ANd G73230 (STATION dATA IN TAbLe 1).</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis</b>: COLONY MONOPOdIAL, UNbRANCHed, PINNULATe. PINNULeS SIMPLe, ARRANged ALTeRNATeLY IN TWO LATeRAL ROWS ALONg STeM; deCReASINg IN LeNgTH TOWARd APeX Of CORALLUM ANd INCLINed dISTALLY. PINNULeS 8 MM TO 10 MM APART PROXIMALLY, 5 MM TO 6 MM APART NeAR THe TOP Of CORALLUM (APPROXIMATeLY SeVeN PINNULeS TOTAL PeR 3 CM ON LOWeR PART Of CORALLUM ANd AbOUT TeN PeR 3 CM ON UPPeR PART IN HOLOTYPe). POLYPAR SPINeS SMALL, TRIANgULAR, ANd COMPReSSed; MOSTLY 0.03 MM TO 0.05 MM TALL (UP TO 0.08 MM NeAR dISTAL eNd Of PINNULeS); fOUR TO fIVe ROWS VISIbLe IN LATeRAL VIeW; WITH AbOUT SIX SPINeS PeR 1 MM. AbPOLYPAR SPINeS USUALLY SMALLeR THAN POLYPAR SPINeS, AbOUT 0.03 MM OR AbSeNT. POLYPS 3 MM TO 4.5 MM IN TRANSVeRSe dIAMeTeR, WITH AbOUT THRee POLYPS PeR 1 CM.</p> <p> <b>Description of the CIDARIS Specimens:</b> THe CIDARIS SPeCIMeNS Of <i>S. affinis</i> ARe SIMILAR TO THe TYPe IN bOTH THe deNSITY Of THe PINNULeS (INCReASINg fROM AbOUT 4.5 PINNULeS IN TOTAL PeR 3 CM ANd ~7 MM Of dISTANCe beTWeeN PINNULeS PROXIMALLY TO 8 PeR 3 CM ANd ~5 MM Of dISTANCe beTWeeN PINNULeS TOWARdS THe APeX Of THe CORALLUM) (FIgURe 6A), ANd THe SIze Of THe POLYPAR SPINeS (~0.06 MM) beINg LARgeR THAN AbPOLYPAR SPINeS (~0.04 MM) (FIgURe 6b). THe COLONY ALSO ReSeMbLeS THe TYPe SPeCIMeN bY HAVINg A dISTINCT TRIANgULAR SHAPe ANd RATIOS Of THe LONgeST ANd LOWeRMOST PINNULe COMPARed TO THe PINNULATed PORTION Of THe STeM beINg beTWeeN 1 TO 1.3, SIMILAR TO THe TYPe SPeCIMeN WITH A RATIO Of ~0.95. (FIgURe 6A). FOUR ROWS Of SPINeS CAN be SeeN fROM ONe ASPeCT (FIgURe 6b) ANd SPINeS ARe MOSTLY SIMPLe (FIgURe 6C), WITH TWO SPeCIMeNS SHOWINg bIfURCATION Of SOMe POLYPAR SPINeS (FIgURe 6b).</p> <p> <b>Distribution:</b> THIS SPeCIeS HAS beeN RePORTed fROM THe NORTHWeSTeRN ATLANTIC, WeSTeRN PACIfIC, ANd INdIAN OCeANS, ANd SOUTH CHINA SeA, fROM dePTHS Of 1,900 M TO 8,460 M, ANd THIS STUdY eXPANdS THe dISTRIbUTION TO THe CORAL SeA, AUSTRALIA (FIgURe 1C) AT 1,576 M (FIgURe 1C), A RANge eXPANSION Of> 1,000 kM, ANd dePTH RANge eXPANSION Of 333 M.</p> <p>a Type specimen a Type specimen</p>Published as part of <i>Horowitz, Jeremy, Opresko, Dennis M. & Bridge, Tom C. L., 2018, Black corals (Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from the deep (916 m - 2542 m) Coral Sea, north-eastern Australia, pp. 307-326 in Zootaxa 4472 (2)</i> on pages 318-320, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4472.2.5, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/1440225">http://zenodo.org/record/1440225</a&gt