So excellent a fishe: A global overview of legal marine turtle fisheries

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordAim: We provide a global assessment of the current legal direct take of marine turtles, including the scale and species breakdown at country level, and investigate the significance of legal take to marine turtle populations within the wider context of global threats. Location: World-wide. Methods: We undertook a comprehensive review of the literature (>500 publications) and contacted over 150 in-country experts to collate data for countries that permit the legal take of marine turtles (as of 1 January 2013). Current annual take for each country and species was estimated, and estimates were generated for the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Results: Currently, 42 countries and territories permit direct take of turtles and collectively take in excess of 42,000turtles per year, the majority of which (>80%) are green turtles Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus 1758). Ten countries account for more than 90% of legal take each year with Papua New Guinea (36.1%) and Nicaragua (22.3%) accounting for more than half of the total global take. Since 1980, we estimate that more than 2million turtles have been legally taken in these countries, with current levels <60% of those in the 1980s. Main conclusions: Our results provide the most comprehensive global synthesis of the legal take of turtles in recent years and suggest that legal take has the potential to be a driver of marine turtle population dynamics, comparable to mortality estimates through recorded bycatch. However, it is likely that illegal take, along with bycatch, is significantly under-recorded and far greater than the total level of directed legal take. This hampers the ability to assess the relative impacts of these threats to marine turtles

Trophic ecology of common elasmobranchs exploited by artisanal shark fisheries off south-western Madagascar

Knowledge of the trophic ecology and interactions of marine top predators is fundamental for understanding community structure and dynamics as well as ecosystem function. We examined the feeding relationships of 4 heavily exploited elasmobranchs caught in coastal artisanal shark fisheries in south-western Madagascar in 2009 and 2010—Sphyrna lewini, Loxodon macrorhinus, Carcharhinus falciformis and Rhynchobatus djiddensis—using stable isotope (δ15N and δ13C) analysis. Relative trophic position (indicated by δ15N) and foraging location (indicated by δ13C) differed among species. Isotopic niche width was highly variable: more pelagic species, such as S. lewini and C. falciformis, had the broadest isotopic niches while the benthic R. djiddensis had the narrowest. A high percentage of niche overlap occurred between R. djiddensis and 2 of the species, C. falciformis (93.2%) and L. macrorhinus (73.2%), and to a lesser extent S. lewini (13.3%). Relative trophic position of S. lewini significantly increased with size, suggesting a dietary shift with age. Sex differences in δ15N values were observed in L. macrorhinus, suggesting intraspecific niche partitioning. Variation in stable isotope values among these 4 highly exploited elasmobranch species indicates trophic structuring, likely driven by differences in diet and habitat use as well as by size and sex. This study provides the first baseline information on the trophic ecology of elasmobranchs caught in artisanal fisheries from south-western Madagascar

Placing Madagascar's marine turtle populations in a regional context using community-based monitoring

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this record.Madagascar is an important foraging ground for marine turtles in the Western Indian Ocean, yet the status of the country's nesting aggregations remains poorly documented. We assess the current status and trend in nesting throughout Madagascar, including data recorded by a community-based monitoring project in the Barren Isles (western Madagascar). We contextualize the findings in comparison with data from Madagascar's closest neighbouring states. Reports indicate that nesting levels have declined at many coastal sites, with no known recordings since 2000 at > 40 nesting sites. We estimate there are a minimum of 1,200 nests per year in Madagascar, with the largest recorded nesting aggregation (< 1,000 nests per year) found on islands off the west and northern coasts. The majority of nesting aggregations, including those recorded by the community-based monitoring project in the Barren Isles, are relatively small, in the order of < 50 nests per year, yet they are potentially important sources of regional genetic diversity. Nesting on many of the islands (e.g. Tromelin, Europa) around Madagascar has increased over the last 20 years, despite the fact that thousands of turtles probably originating from these sites are taken by fishers in the waters of Madagascar annually. We discuss the importance of protecting small nesting populations, and how community-based monitoring could be an important tool for conserving remote and vulnerable populations and building capacity for natural resource management.We thank in particular Audrey Campillo, a researcher affiliated with the La Réunion-based research group Kelonia (www.kelonia.org), who provided initial training for the community monitoring team in Madagascar. We also thank the eight community members of the monitoring team from Maintirano, Jean Berthieu Nomenjanahary and Armel Bezafy for their assistance, Charlotte Moffat, Jérémie Bossert and Marianne Teoh for assisting with community interviews and data organization, Samir Gandhi for helping to prepare Figs 1–3, the State of the World's Sea Turtles, National Geographic's Conservation Trust and The Rufford Foundation for supporting Blue Ventures’ marine turtle conservation and research work in Madagascar, and two referees for their helpful input

The Gut Fungus Basidiobolus ranarum Has a Large Genome and Different Copy Numbers of Putatively Functionally Redundant Elongation Factor Genes

Fungal genomes range in size from 2.3 Mb for the microsporidian Encephalitozoon intestinalis up to 8000 Mb for Entomophaga aulicae, with a mean genome size of 37 Mb. Basidiobolus, a common inhabitant of vertebrate guts, is distantly related to all other fungi, and is unique in possessing both EF-1α and EFL genes. Using DNA sequencing and a quantitative PCR approach, we estimated a haploid genome size for Basidiobolus at 350 Mb. However, based on allelic variation, the nuclear genome is at least diploid, leading us to believe that the final genome size is at least 700 Mb. We also found that EFL was in three times the copy number of its putatively functionally overlapping paralog EF-1α. This suggests that gene or genome duplication may be an important feature of B. ranarum evolution, and also suggests that B. ranarum may have mechanisms in place that favor the preservation of functionally overlapping genes

Avoidable mortality across Canada from 1975 to 1999

BACKGROUND: The concept of 'avoidable' mortality (AM) has been proposed as a performance measure of health care systems. In this study we examined mortality in five geographic regions of Canada from 1975 to 1999 for previously defined avoidable disease groups that are amenable to medical care and public health. These trends were compared to mortality from other causes. METHODS: National and regional age-standardized mortality rates for ages less than 65 years were estimated for avoidable and other causes of death for consecutive periods (1975–1979, 1980–1985, 1985–1989, 1990–1994, and 1995–1999). The proportion of all-cause mortality attributable to avoidable causes was also determined. RESULTS: From 1975–1979 to 1995–1999, the AM decrease (46.9%) was more pronounced compared to mortality from other causes (24.9%). There were persistent regional AM differences, with consistently lower AM in Ontario and British Columbia compared to the Atlantic, Quebec, and Prairies regions. This trend was not apparent when mortality from other causes was examined. Injuries, ischaemic heart disease, and lung cancer strongly influenced the overall AM trends. CONCLUSION: The regional differences in mortality for ages less than 65 years was attributable to causes of death amenable to medical care and public health, especially from causes responsive to public health

Structure and dynamics of the shark assemblage off recife, northeastern Brazil

Understanding the ecological factors that regulate elasmobranch abundance in nearshore waters is essential to effectively manage coastal ecosystems and promote conservation. However, little is known about elasmobranch populations in the western South Atlantic Ocean. An 8-year, standardized longline and drumline survey conducted in nearshore waters off Recife, northeastern Brazil, allowed us to describe the shark assemblage and to monitor abundance dynamics using zero-inflated generalized additive models. This region is mostly used by several carcharhinids and one ginglymostomid, but sphyrnids are also present. Blacknose sharks, Carcharhinus acronotus, were mostly mature individuals and declined in abundance throughout the survey, contrasting with nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum, which proliferated possibly due to this species being prohibited from all harvest since 2004 in this region. Tiger sharks, Galeocerdo cuvier, were mostly juveniles smaller than 200 cm and seem to use nearshore waters off Recife between January and September. No long-term trend in tiger shark abundance was discernible. Spatial distribution was similar in true coastal species (i.e. blacknose and nurse sharks) whereas tiger sharks were most abundant at the middle continental shelf. The sea surface temperature, tidal amplitude, wind direction, water turbidity, and pluviosity were all selected to predict shark abundance off Recife. Interspecific variability in abundance dynamics across spatiotemporal and environmental gradients suggest that the ecological processes regulating shark abundance are generally independent between species, which could add complexity to multi-species fisheries management frameworks. Yet, further research is warranted to ascertain trends at population levels in the South Atlantic Ocean.State Government of Pernambuco, Brazil; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, Portugal [SFRH/BD/37065/2007]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Runs of homozygosity and testicular cancer risk

Background: Testicular germ cell tumour (TGCT) is highly heritable but > 50% of the genetic risk remains unexplained. Epidemiological observation of greater relative risk to brothers of men with TGCT compared to sons has long alluded to recessively acting TGCT genetic susceptibility factors, but to date none have been reported. Runs of homozygosity (RoH) are a signature indicating underlying recessively acting alleles and have been associated with increased risk of other cancer types. / Objective: To examine whether RoH are associated with TGCT risk. / Methods: We performed a genome‐wide RoH analysis using GWAS data from 3206 TGCT cases and 7422 controls uniformly genotyped using the OncoArray platform. / Results: Global measures of homozygosity were not significantly different between cases and controls, and the frequency of individual consensus RoH was not significantly different between cases and controls, after correction for multiple testing. RoH at three regions, 11p13‐11p14.3, 5q14.1‐5q22.3 and 13q14.11‐13q.14.13, were, however, nominally statistically significant at p < 0.01. Intriguingly, RoH200 at 11p13‐11p14.3 encompasses Wilms tumour 1 (WT1), a recognized cancer susceptibility gene with roles in sex determination and developmental transcriptional regulation, processes repeatedly implicated in TGCT aetiology. / Discussion and conclusion: Overall, our data do not support a major role in the risk of TGCT for recessively acting alleles acting through homozygosity, as measured by RoH in outbred populations of cases and controls