Broken symmetry and the variation of critical properties in the phase behaviour of supramolecular rhombus tilings

The degree of randomness, or partial order, present in two-dimensional supramolecular arrays of isophthalate tetracarboxylic acids is shown to vary due to subtle chemical changes such as the choice of solvent or small differences in molecular dimensions. This variation may be quantified using an order parameter and reveals a novel phase behaviour including random tiling with varying critical properties as well as ordered phases dominated by either parallel or non-parallel alignment of neighbouring molecules, consistent with long-standing theoretical studies. The balance between order and randomness is driven by small differences in the intermolecular interaction energies, which we show, using numerical simulations, can be related to the measured order parameter. Significant variations occur even when the energy difference is much less than the thermal energy highlighting the delicate balance between entropic and energetic effects in complex self-assembly processes

Behavioural patterns, spatial utilisation and landings composition of a small-scale fishery in the eastern Mediterranean

This is the final version. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record. Data Availability: Data will be made available on request.Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) are crucial for global food security and cultural heritage, however, information on their spatial distribution and practices are often lacking, precluding effective management and mitigation of ecological impacts. This is acutely the case in the eastern Mediterranean basin, where, despite concerns being raised regarding the magnitude of marine turtle bycatch in SSFs over two decades ago, a poor understanding of the fishery persists. To address this knowledge gap, we characterised the SSF fleet of Northern Cyprus through a combination of onboard observations, fisher self-reporting and vessel tracking to provide the first comprehensive overview of the fishery. Northern Cyprus had a fleet size, standardised by coastline length, ranked 14th of 23 Mediterranean fleets assessed, with an estimated 49542 and 57198 fishing days in total in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Vessels operated mainly over the continental shelf (< 200 m) and were predominantly active during the night (53.2%, n = 573378 locations). Clear crepuscular peaks in vessel activity and gear deployment raise concerns over spatiotemporal overlap with vulnerable species, even within MPAs previously established to protect them. Fishers (n = 1296 fishing operations) predominantly utilised static and demersal gear types including gill nets (35.0%), trammel nets (27.3%), trammel and gill nets combined (20.3%), demersal longlines (17.0%) and handlines (0.5%). Landings composition was highly diverse with a minimum of 238 different taxa identified, including, but not limited to, 123 species of bony fish, 22 elasmobranch species, 3 marine turtle species and 12 mollusc species of which 18.6% are considered threatened either at a Mediterranean or global scale. However, over 70.0% of total landing mass was comprised of only five species including bogue (Boops boops), picarel (Spicara smaris), blotched picarel (Spicara maena), greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili) and Mediterranean parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense). As the most up to date and detailed understanding of this fishery's operating behaviours, our research compares the results obtained from onboard observer and self-reporting fisher sampling methodologies and discusses the caveats of each and identifies potential opportunities to adapt existing practices and MPAs to improve long-term sustainability of the fishery, whilst maintaining its socio-economic benefits to the local community.Mava FoundationUniversity of ExeterUniversity of ExeterCERECON projec

Dietary analysis of two sympatric marine turtle species in the eastern Mediterranean

This is the final version. Available from Springer via the DOI in this record. Data and any available visuals, such as figures and tables, will be provided upon reasonable request to the corresponding author. Any codes created to assist in data analysis and/or any software application utilised in the current study will be provided upon reasonable request submitted to the corresponding author.Dietary studies provide key insights into threats and changes within ecosystems and subsequent impacts on focal species. Diet is particularly challenging to study within marine environments and therefore is often poorly understood. Here, we examined the diet of stranded and bycaught loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in North Cyprus (35.33° N, 33.47° E) between 2011 and 2019. A total of 129 taxa were recorded in the diet of loggerhead turtles (n = 45), which were predominantly carnivorous (on average 72.1% of dietary biomass), foraging on a large variety of invertebrates, macroalgae, seagrasses and bony fish in low frequencies. Despite this opportunistic foraging strategy, one species was particularly dominant, the sponge Chondrosia reniformis (21.5%). Consumption of this sponge decreased with increasing turtle size. A greater degree of herbivory was found in green turtles (n = 40) which predominantly consumed seagrasses and macroalgae (88.8%) with a total of 101 taxa recorded. The most dominant species was a Lessepsian invasive seagrass, Halophila stipulacea (31.1%). This is the highest percentage recorded for this species in green turtle diet in the Mediterranean thus far. With increasing turtle size, the percentage of seagrass consumed increased with a concomitant decrease in macroalgae. Seagrass was consumed year-round. Omnivory occurred in all green turtle size classes but reduced in larger turtles (> 75 cm CCL) suggesting a slow ontogenetic dietary shift. Macroplastic ingestion was more common in green (31.6% of individuals) than loggerhead turtles (5.7%). This study provides the most complete dietary list for marine turtles in the eastern Mediterranean.European CommissionErwin Warth FoundationKarşıyaka Turtle WatchAngela WadsworthMaureen and Tony HutchinsonKuzey Kıbrıs TurkcellMAVA FoundationNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)University of Exete