Aquatic species shows asymmetric distribution range shifts in native and non-native areas

Climate change is reshaping the geographical distribution of species across the globe. In marine ecosystems, climate change creates novel challenges to an environment impacted by numerous anthropogenic stressors. Forecasting shifts in species distribution, including the expansion of non-indigenous species under climate change scenarios, is a management challenge for today’s world.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Long-term trends in functional diversity of exploited marine fish in the Azores’ archipelago: past and present

IntroductionEffective fisheries management requires monitoring and quantifying changes in exploited fish communities. Concerns about global fisheries sustainability have led to innovative approaches. Functional diversity, rooted in ecological theory, offers valuable insights into fishery activities and ecosystem processes. A trait-based approach was used to investigate the functional diversity of landed fish species in the Azores archipelago from 1980 to 2021.MethodsLandings data of exploited Actinopterygii and Elasmobranchii were provided by the Azores Fisheries Auction Services (LOTAÇOR/OKEANOS-UAc Fisheries Database). A trait matrix was built, incorporating 12 functional traits assigned to each species, capturing their importance in marine ecological processes. The Quickhull algorithm for convex hull was employed to calculate the volume occupied by the species in the four-dimensional functional space. Functional diversity (FD) was measured using three indices: functional richness (FRic), functional evenness (FEve), and functional divergence (FDiv). Trends in FD indices over the past 42 years were visualized using Generalized Additive Models (GAM) with interaction terms.Results and discussionGAM analysis revealed significant variations in the functional space and FD metrics over time. FRic exhibited peaks in the 1980s and 2010s, declining in the 1990s and from the 2010s onwards, indicating diversification in target species. The recent decrease in FRic can be attributed to the absence of catches of species with unique traits. The distribution of landings and trait combinations showed higher regularity in the functional space during the 1980s and 1990s (high FEve). Actinopterygii species targeted in the 1980s and 1990s had lower trait divergence (low FDiv) compared to those targeted from the 2000s onwards (high FDiv). Variability in FD can be linked to changes in fishing practices, species availability, market demand, environmental factors, and local regulations. This study underscores the importance of considering FD metrics alongside species richness and abundance when assessing the potential effects of fisheries on marine ecosystems and sustainable use of fishery resources

Fecundity of fishes inhabiting coastal and estuarine environments in the southwest Atlantic Ocean

<p>The aim of this study was to estimate the fecundity of six marine fish species from the southwest Atlantic off the coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. In particular, the number of oocytes in the most advanced vitellogenic stage (NDO), batch fecundity and the number of batches that will be produced were estimated. Specimens of longfinger anchovy <i>Anchoa filifera</i>, atlantic anchoveta <i>Cetengraulis edentulus</i>, bay whiff <i>Citharichthys spilopterus</i>, <i>Stellifer brasiliensis</i>, rake stardrum <i>S. rastrifer</i> and southern kingcroaker <i>Menticirrhus americanus</i> were captured bimonthly, from June (2012) to May (2013). The mature ovaries were removed, weighed, fixed in formalin solution and histologically analysed. All histological sections were photographed and the images analysed using advanced image processing techniques. The estimated number of batches that will be recruited to the germinal vesicle migration/hydrated stock ranged from one to four batches. NDO is positively related to ovarian and female size. Small females with low ovary weight produce low NDO. The NDO in <i>A. filifera</i>, <i>C. edentulus</i> and <i>M. americanus</i> may represent the final number of oocytes to be spawned in the next spawning event, which could be used for batch fecundity estimation. This study contributes to a better understanding of the reproduction of species inhabiting shrimp fishery grounds which are caught as by-catch in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. Information on the maturity and fecundity of these populations is an important element in assessing stock status and the degree of fishing pressure these populations are experiencing.</p

FUN Azores: a FUNctional Trait Database for the Meio-, Macro-, and Megafauna From the Azores Marine Park (Mid-Atlantic Ridge)

Trait-based approaches that complement taxonomy-based studies have increased in popularity among the scientific community over the last decades. The collection of biological and ecological characteristics of species (i.e., traits) provides insight into species and ecosystem vulnerability to environmental and anthropogenic changes, as well as ecosystem functioning. Here, we present the FUN Azores trait database, describe our approach, evaluate its scope, compare it to other marine trait databases, and explore the spatial distribution of its traits with “functional maps.” While most of the available trait databases to date contain essential information to understand the functional diversity of a taxonomic or functional group, our ecosystem-based approach provides a comprehensive assessment of diverse fauna (i.e., meio-, macro-, and megafauna) from benthic and pelagic environments in the Azores Marine Park; including ridges, seamounts, hydrothermal vents, and the overlying water column. We used a collaborative approach involving 30 researchers with different expertise to develop the FUN Azores database, which contains compiled data on 14 traits representing morphological, behavioral, and life history characteristics for 1,210 species across 10 phyla. The “functional maps” show a distinct distribution of the two most common size classes, suggesting different communities with different functionalities. The following traits had the best scoring coverage (i.e., \u3e95% of OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Peter Convey, British Antarctic Survey (BAS), United Kingdom REVIEWED BY Sarah Faulwetter, University of Patras, Greece Kai Horst George, Senckenberg am Meer Wilhelmshaven, Germany *CORRESPONDENCE Neus Campanyà-Llovet [email protected] RECEIVED 21 September 2022 ACCEPTED 29 May 2023 PUBLISHED 27 July 2023 CITATION Campanyà-Llovet N, Bates AE, Cuvelier D, Giacomello E, Catarino D, Gooday AJ, Berning B, Figuerola B, Malaquias MAE, Moura CJ, Xavier JR, Sutton TT, Fauconnet L, Ramalho SP, Neves BdM, Machado GM, Horton T, Gebruk AV, Minin K, Bried J, Molodtsova T, Silva MA, Dilman A, Kremenetskaia A, Costa EFS, Clarke J, Martins HR, Pham CK, Carreiro-Silva M and Colaço A (2023) FUN Azores: a FUNctional trait database for the meio-, macro-, and megafauna from the Azores Marine Park (Mid-Atlantic Ridge). Front. Ecol. Evol. 11:1050268. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1050268 COPYRIGHT © 2023 Campanyà-Llovet, Bates, Cuvelier, Giacomello, Catarino, Gooday, Berning, Figuerola, Malaquias, Moura, Xavier, Sutton, Fauconnet, Ramalho, Neves, Machado, Horton, Gebruk, Minin, Bried, Molodtsova, Silva, Dilman, Kremenetskaia, Costa, Clarke, Martins, Pham, Carreiro-Silva and Colaço. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. TYPE Data Report PUBLISHED 27 July 2023 DOI 10.3389/fevo.2023.1050268 Campanyà-Llovet et al. 10.3389/fevo.2023.1050268 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 02 frontiersin.org the species scored): maximum body size, body form, skeleton material, feeding structure, motility, environmental position, substratum affinity, distribution, and depth range; while traits related to species behavior (e.g., sociability or aggregation tendencies) and life history (e.g., developmental mechanism) had lower scoring coverage, highlighting the need for further research to fill these knowledge gaps. We found a larger number of species in the benthic compared to the pelagic environment and differing species composition between areas within the Azores Marine Park resulting from varying biodiversity, ecosystem types, sampling effort, and methodologies used. The FUN Azores database will foster and facilitate trait-based approaches in the area, develop a framework for expansion of cross-ecosystem and cross-taxa trait databases elsewhere, and improve our ecological understanding of the Azores Marine Park and its conservation requirements