Global Diversity Hotspots and Conservation Priorities for Sharks

Sharks are one of the most threatened groups of marine animals, as high exploitation rates coupled with low resilience to fishing pressure have resulted in population declines worldwide. Designing conservation strategies for this group depends on basic knowledge of the geographic distribution and diversity of known species. So far, this information has been fragmented and incomplete. Here, we have synthesized the first global shark diversity pattern from a new database of published sources, including all 507 species described at present, and have identified hotspots of shark species richness, functional diversity and endemicity from these data. We have evaluated the congruence of these diversity measures and demonstrate their potential use in setting priority areas for shark conservation. Our results show that shark diversity across all species peaks on the continental shelves and at mid-latitudes (30–40 degrees N and S). Global hotspots of species richness, functional diversity and endemicity were found off Japan, Taiwan, the East and West coasts of Australia, Southeast Africa, Southeast Brazil and Southeast USA. Moreover, some areas with low to moderate species richness such as Southern Australia, Angola, North Chile and Western Continental Europe stood out as places of high functional diversity. Finally, species affected by shark finning showed different patterns of diversity, with peaks closer to the Equator and a more oceanic distribution overall. Our results show that the global pattern of shark diversity is uniquely different from land, and other well-studied marine taxa, and may provide guidance for spatial approaches to shark conservation. However, similar to terrestrial ecosystems, protected areas based on hotspots of diversity and endemism alone would provide insufficient means for safeguarding the diverse functional roles that sharks play in marine ecosystems

Cryptic Diversity in Indo-Pacific Coral-Reef Fishes Revealed by DNA-Barcoding Provides New Support to the Centre-of-Overlap Hypothesis

Diversity in coral reef fishes is not evenly distributed and tends to accumulate in the Indo-Malay-Philippines Archipelago (IMPA). The comprehension of the mechanisms that initiated this pattern is in its infancy despite its importance for the conservation of coral reefs. Considering the IMPA either as an area of overlap or a cradle of marine biodiversity, the hypotheses proposed to account for this pattern rely on extant knowledge about taxonomy and species range distribution. The recent large-scale use of standard molecular data (DNA barcoding), however, has revealed the importance of taking into account cryptic diversity when assessing tropical biodiversity. We DNA barcoded 2276 specimens belonging to 668 coral reef fish species through a collaborative effort conducted concomitantly in both Indian and Pacific oceans to appraise the importance of cryptic diversity in species with an Indo-Pacific distribution range. Of the 141 species sampled on each side of the IMPA, 62 presented no spatial structure whereas 67 exhibited divergent lineages on each side of the IMPA with K2P distances ranging between 1% and 12%, and 12 presented several lineages with K2P distances ranging between 3% and 22%. Thus, from this initial pool of 141 nominal species with Indo-Pacific distribution, 79 dissolved into 165 biological units among which 162 were found in a single ocean. This result is consistent with the view that the IMPA accumulates diversity as a consequence of its geological history, its location on the junction between the two main tropical oceans and the presence of a land bridge during glacial times in the IMPA that fostered allopatric divergence and secondary contacts between the Indian and Pacific oceans

No Association between Fish Intake and Depression in over 15,000 Older Adults from Seven Low and Middle Income Countries–The 10/66 Study

Background: Evidence on the association between fish consumption and depression is inconsistent and virtually nonexistent from low-and middle-income countries. Using a standard protocol, we aim to assess the association of fish consumption and late-life depression in seven low-and middle-income countries. Methodology/Findings: We used cross-sectional data from the 10/66 cohort study and applied two diagnostic criteria for late-life depression to assess the association between categories of weekly fish consumption and depression according to ICD-10 and the EURO-D depression symptoms scale scores, adjusting for relevant confounders. All-catchment area surveys were carried out in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, China, and India, and over 15,000 community-dwelling older adults (65+) were sampled. Using Poisson models the adjusted association between categories of fish consumption and ICD-10 depression was positive in India (p for trend = 0.001), inverse in Peru (p = 0.025), and not significant in all other countries. We found a linear inverse association between fish consumption categories and EURO-D scores only in Cuba (p for trend = 0.039) and China (p<0.001); associations were not significant in all other countries. Between-country heterogeneity was marked for both ICD-10 (I-2>61%) and EURO-D criteria (I-2>66%). Conclusions: The associations of fish consumption with depression in large samples of older adults varied markedly across countries and by depression diagnosis and were explained by socio-demographic and lifestyle variables. Experimental studies in these settings are needed to confirm our findings.Multidisciplinary SciencesSCI(E)SSCI0ARTICLE6null

What a national psychology board will mean for current registrants, and what it might contribute to Australian Psychology

The National Psychology Board will put in place a single national standard for psychology registration that will be consistent with the other aspect of the scheme - a national system for psychology accreditation. No longer will differences in standards between States and Territories be exploited, and much administrative complexity will be removed with a single national registration. Currently, there is at least one psychologist who is registered in every State and Territory of Australia - and who applies to all eight jurisdictions and pays fees of over $1500 a year

The heart and soul of change: delivering what works in therapy, second edition (Book Review)

In 1936 Saul Rosenzweig (19072004) published a scientific paper concluding that psychotherapies of different theoretical and practical orientations all produce equivalent effectiveness-a conclusion that remains unchanged today despite 75 years of empirical research seeking to find differential effectiveness for different forms of psychotherapy treatment. What is less well know, however, is that despite equivalent effectiveness of therapy brand names, there is considerable variation in effectiveness between individual therapists. It is therefore fitting that this book begins with a message from Rosenzweig, which sets the scene for a very different volume from the first edition. The first edition (1999), edited by Hubble, Duncan and Miller, quickly became a classic text in the field because it took Rosenzweig\u27s conclusion, and then turned it into a set of principles to help therapists become more effective. The idea at the time was that therapists should capitalise on four common factors: (1) mobilise the client\u27s life circumstances and environment; (2) enhance the therapy relationship; (3) create an atmosphere of hope and expectation of change; and (4) use therapy techniques in the service of helping the client to make their own changes. These principles were patched together based on past research to create an argument for change

The relation of early environmental experience to shame and self-criticism: Psychological pathways to depression

Self-criticism has been identified as a particularly malignant personality variable that confers vulnerability for the development of depression. Although impressive literature on depressive symptoms and the personality variable self-criticism exists, few studies have examined the origins of a self-critical style and little is currently known as to how the self-conscious affect of shame may impact this link. The aim of this study was to test a more comprehensive path model of depressive symptoms. The proposed model suggested that self-criticism originates from a parental style characterised by low parental warmth and high parental control, with self-criticism and shame representing mediating variables between parental bonding and depression. Participants were 201 undergraduate students who completed measures of parental bonding styles, self-criticism, shame and depressive symptoms. The evaluation of the measurement model utilising partial least squares in part supported the combination of the proposed variables. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed

The clinician\u27s dilemma: Core confictual relationship themes in personality disorders

Psychotherapy as a treatment for mental health disorders has been developing for almost 120 years (Norcross, VandenBos, Freedheim, 2010). This history is a rich one, with many millions of pages of text written about psychotherapy, analysing individual cases (Breuer & Freud, 1895/1955; Watson & Rayner, 1920); collections of cases (Jones, 1936); aggregating multiple sets of studies (Smith & Glass, 1977); and doing large studies of many thousands of cases (Seligman, 1995). Much of the promise of the Boulder model of clinical psychology training (Raimy, 1950) is to add every trained clinician into the ranks of scientists who can join this discourse and investigation. The \u27scientist-practitioner\u27 is a useful rubric for understanding the clinical situation - a client struggling to present their story, and a clinician struggling to make sense of it, using a model of treatment informed by scientific theory and empirical outcomes (Weiner, 2012)