The Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Estimates, Patterns, and Threats

The Mediterranean Sea is a marine biodiversity hot spot. Here we combined an extensive literature analysis with expert opinions to update publicly available estimates of major taxa in this marine ecosystem and to revise and update several species lists. We also assessed overall spatial and temporal patterns of species diversity and identified major changes and threats. Our results listed approximately 17,000 marine species occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. However, our estimates of marine diversity are still incomplete as yet—undescribed species will be added in the future. Diversity for microbes is substantially underestimated, and the deep-sea areas and portions of the southern and eastern region are still poorly known. In addition, the invasion of alien species is a crucial factor that will continue to change the biodiversity of the Mediterranean, mainly in its eastern basin that can spread rapidly northwards and westwards due to the warming of the Mediterranean Sea. Spatial patterns showed a general decrease in biodiversity from northwestern to southeastern regions following a gradient of production, with some exceptions and caution due to gaps in our knowledge of the biota along the southern and eastern rims. Biodiversity was also generally higher in coastal areas and continental shelves, and decreases with depth. Temporal trends indicated that overexploitation and habitat loss have been the main human drivers of historical changes in biodiversity. At present, habitat loss and degradation, followed by fishing impacts, pollution, climate change, eutrophication, and the establishment of alien species are the most important threats and affect the greatest number of taxonomic groups. All these impacts are expected to grow in importance in the future, especially climate change and habitat degradation. The spatial identification of hot spots highlighted the ecological importance of most of the western Mediterranean shelves (and in particular, the Strait of Gibraltar and the adjacent Alboran Sea), western African coast, the Adriatic, and the Aegean Sea, which show high concentrations of endangered, threatened, or vulnerable species. The Levantine Basin, severely impacted by the invasion of species, is endangered as well

Propuesta de una Clasificación española sobre imágenes de pornografía infantil

Nowadays, the interchange of child pornography material has grown considerably due to the increase of diffusion, production and interchange opportunities provided by Internet. Police investigations face significant challenges such as the big amount of child pornography cases detected annually and the identification of consumer profiles that may drive from child pornography to a real child sexual abuse. The goal of this research is to improve police efficacy in child pornography investigations with the establishment of a national scale of images and videos according to their content. For that purpose, we have revised a sample of 4.116 photographs and 400 videos identified among police investigations of Unit of Judicial Police of Guardia Civil from 2008 to 2013. This article presents the national scale and the more prevalent levels in the samples analysed. Additionally, the sex, age and ethnicity of images most consumed are presented. Finally, the scale has been evaluated by means of an inter-judge agreement.En la actualidad, el intercambio de material relacionado con la pornografía infantil ha aumentado considerablemente gracias al incremento de las oportunidades de difusión, las técnicas de producción así como las formas de intercambio y distribución del material en la red. La investigación policial sobre estos delitos se enfrenta a importantes retos, entre los cuales, destacan el volumen de casos de pornografía infantil que se detecta anualmente y la identificación de los perfiles de usuarios que potencialmente podrían convertirse en agresores sexuales. La investigación que se presenta en este artículo pretende contribuir a mejorar la eficacia policial en este ámbito, mediante el establecimiento de una clasificación nacional de imágenes y vídeos de pornografía infantil según la gravedad del contenido del material. Para ello, se han revisado una muestra de 4.116 fotografías y otra de 400 vídeos archivados en investigaciones realizadas entre 2008 y 2013 por la Unidad Técnica de policía Judicial de la Guardia Civil. Este artículo describe la clasificación escogida así como los niveles encontrados para las muestras analizadas, además de ofrecer la edad, el sexo y la etnia preferida por los consumidores en el material detectado. Finalmente, se presenta la validación de la clasificación a través de un acuerdo interjueces

Origen, evolución e involución de los jóvenes pertenecientes a grupos violentos

Esta investigación está encaminada a conocer, de forma más precisa, a los jóvenes pertenecientes a grupos violentos debido a la creciente alarma social que provocan sus actuaciones violentas así como las consecuencias de estos comportamientos y la necesidad de intervención. A través de los diferentes estudios que configuran la investigación se plantea un análisis sobre las características de los jóvenes perteneciente a grupos juveniles violentos para así poder proponer un conjunto de conclusiones que tienen por objeto orientar la elaboración, aplicación y evaluación de programas dirigidos a reducir la probabilidad de realizar agresiones exogrupales.ES