Assessing National Progress of Mediterranean Countries in Shark Governance in the Context of International Legal Obligations

The work presented in this thesis introduces a conceptual framework for shark policy making against which national progress of Mediterranean coastal States in shark governance was assessed. A detailed assessment strategy was developed based on three distinct constructs, namely political commitment, research, and implementation effort. Based on multiple data sources (national reports under relevant conventions; policy documents; national legislation; online databases; scientific literature; and survey questionnaires to relevant government bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and national experts, designed as part of this assessment), individual differences between countries were determined and evaluated within the context of legal requirements under international and regional law. Although political commitment significantly differed between Member States of the European Union (EU) and non-EU countries, with the former displaying significantly higher values, overarching legal obligations are similar between countries, with the exception of Palestine. Such obligations concern the management of fisheries and the responsibility to protect and preserve the marine environment and species therein, including sharks. A comprehensive review of available research literature was conducted to determine the status of existing knowledge on sharks regionally and evaluate national contributions. A total of 1,212 publications were assessed in detail on their focus, species concerned in the research, institutes involved, and funding received. Much knowledge is available on ecology and biology of species, as well as fisheries’ impact and catch compositions, while little research has been conducted on management measures, policy evaluation, and legal aspects- a gap partly filled through this work, although more research on these topics is needed. Scientific research on sharks has been driven by countries like Italy and Tunisia, which have been contributing to knowledge on these species for many decades, while other countries have only been involved in shark research in recent years. The assessment of implemented efforts identified 208 different measures of which some apply to multiple countries. However, the majority of these measures were projects and programmes (56.3%) that focus on data collection. The application of stringent regulations applies mainly for the fisheries sector through Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and concerns a few spatial and gear restrictions that benefit shark conservation. Only two marine protected areas (MPAs) relevant to shark conservation were identified, one in Turkey and one in Lebanon, demonstrating that this conservation tool remains to be under-utilised for sharks. The insights retrieved from experts showed that problems, such as mislabelling, the impact from unregulated recreational fishing, the marketing of protected species, and an overall increase in shark meat marketing were observed in multiple countries and require further action. The thesis concludes by proposing next steps for shark governance in the region to address these challenges. While this assessment can be used as a baseline against which future progress can be measured and can support priority setting in shark governance at national level, there are limitations to the approach taken. More research is required to further validate the national state of shark governance and to evaluate the outcome of existing policies to further fill the gap of legal and policy research in this region

Stakeholder involvement in marine spatial planning

The importance of stakeholder involvement in marine spatial planning was assessed in a Maltese Marine Protected Area (MPA) through a questionnaire survey of six main stakeholder groups, namely governmental authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), bus and boat trip operators, dive centres and small business owners. The questionnaires revealed the different views of the stakeholder groups based on their interest in the Dwejra MPA, conflicts among users, environmental concerns, and also helped identification of potential management measures. Interests differed among stakeholders, but response rates were highest for questions related to economic and environmental concerns. Two additional existing data sets, one on marine habitat distribution and one on fishing activities in the MPA were included in a spatial analysis of conflicts identified through the questionnaire. A major conflict exists between stakeholders engaged in fishing and diving activities, due to overlap of activity ranges in the relatively small MPA. The number of ongoing activities was highest during the months April to October, which results from the high influx of tourists during the summer months, favourable weather conditions, and the fact that fishers are more active during this period. Environmental NGOs considered the number of tourists visiting the MPA to be too high, and a similar perception was expressed by most stakeholders with regards to the number of divers. Fifteen management measures which may be used to improve regulation of human activities in the area were identified, including the introduction of a visitor fee. This suggestion was favoured by NGOs, government authorities, and most dive centres interviewed, but opposed by bus and boat trip operators, as well as by small business owners. A zonation plan was considered beneficial by most interviewees, with the results of the statistical analyses indicating no significant difference among the responses given by the different stakeholder groups. A comparison between a zonation scheme developed by the Maltese national government, the San Lawrence local council, and the NGO Nature Trust in 2005, and a second draft scheme prepared by the Professional Diving Schools Association, which was presented during the stakeholder interviews carried out as part of the present study in 2014, showed partial overlap of conservation measures. However, the 2005 zonation plan is more comprehensive since it takes into account available data on benthic habitats and includes measures to protect sensitive habitats and species.peer-reviewe

New Mediterranean biodiversity records (October, 2014)

The Collective Article 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records' of the Mediterranean Marine Science journal offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article is divided in two parts, for records of alien and native species respectively. The new records of alien species include: the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis (Crete and Lakonikos Gulf, Greece); the red alga Grateloupia turuturu (along the Israeli Mediterranean shore); the mantis shrimp Clorida albolitura (Gulf of Antalya, Turkey); the mud crab Dyspanopeus sayi (Mar Piccolo of Taranto, Ionian Sea); the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Chios Island, Greece); the isopod Paracerceis sculpta (northern Aegean Sea, Greece); the sea urchin Diadema setosum (Gökova Bay, Turkey); the molluscs Smaragdia souverbiana, Murex forskoehlii, Fusinus verrucosus, Circenita callipyga, and Aplysia dactylomela (Syria); the cephalaspidean mollusc Haminoea cyanomarginata (Baia di Puolo, Massa Lubrense, Campania, southern Italy); the topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva (Civitavecchia, Tyrrhenian Sea); the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina (Plemmirio marine reserve, Sicily); the silver-cheeked toadfish Lagocephalus sceleratus (Saros Bay, Turkey; and Ibiza channel, Spain); the Indo-Pacific ascidian Herdmania momus in Kastelorizo Island (Greece); and the foraminiferal Clavulina multicamerata (Saronikos Gulf, Greece). The record of L. sceleratus in Spain consists the deepest (350-400m depth) record of the species in the Mediterranean Sea. The new records of native species include: first record of the ctenophore Cestum veneris in Turkish marine waters; the presence of Holothuria tubulosa and Holothuria polii in the Bay of Igoumenitsa (Greece); the first recorded sighting of the bull ray Pteromylaeus bovinus in Maltese waters; and a new record of the fish Lobotes surinamensis from Maliakos Gulf.peer-reviewe

Local Tree Diversity Suppresses Foliar Fungal Infestation and Decreases Morphological but Not Molecular Richness in a Young Subtropical Forest

Leaf fungal pathogens alter their host species’ performance and, thus, changes in fungal species composition can translate into effects at the tree community scale. Conversely, the functional diversity of tree species in a host tree’s local neighbourhood can affect the host’s foliar fungal infestation. Therefore, understanding the factors that affect fungal infestations is important to advance our understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships. Here we make use of the largest BEF tree experiment worldwide, the BEF-China experiment, where we selected tree host species with different neighbour species. Identifying fungal taxa by microscopy and by high-throughput DNA sequencing techniques based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA region, we analysed the fungal richness and infestation rates of our target trees as a function of local species richness. Based on the visual microscopic assessment, we found that a higher tree diversity reduced fungal richness and host-specific fungal infestation in the host’s local neighbourhood, while molecular fungal richness was unaffected. This diversity effect was mainly explained by the decrease in host proportion. Thus, the dilution of host species in the local neighbourhood was the primary mechanism in reducing the fungal disease severity. Overall, our study suggests that diverse forests will suffer less from foliar fungal diseases compared to those with lower diversity

Local Tree Diversity Suppresses Foliar Fungal Infestation and Decreases Morphological but Not Molecular Richness in a Young Subtropical Forest

Leaf fungal pathogens alter their host species’ performance and, thus, changes in fungal species composition can translate into effects at the tree community scale. Conversely, the functional diversity of tree species in a host tree’s local neighbourhood can affect the host’s foliar fungal infestation. Therefore, understanding the factors that affect fungal infestations is important to advance our understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships. Here we make use of the largest BEF tree experiment worldwide, the BEF-China experiment, where we selected tree host species with different neighbour species. Identifying fungal taxa by microscopy and by high-throughput DNA sequencing techniques based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA region, we analysed the fungal richness and infestation rates of our target trees as a function of local species richness. Based on the visual microscopic assessment, we found that a higher tree diversity reduced fungal richness and host-specific fungal infestation in the host’s local neighbourhood, while molecular fungal richness was unaffected. This diversity effect was mainly explained by the decrease in host proportion. Thus, the dilution of host species in the local neighbourhood was the primary mechanism in reducing the fungal disease severity. Overall, our study suggests that diverse forests will suffer less from foliar fungal diseases compared to those with lower diversity

Psychometric properties of the German version of the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) in clinical routine settings: study design and protocol of a multitrait-multimethod study

Introduction The aim of this study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy, psychometric properties and clinical utility of the German version of the Clinician-Administered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) (CAPS-5) in routine clinical settings. Methods and analysis This study is a non-interventional, multitrait-multimethod design, multicentre study that will be carried out at German civil and military inpatient and outpatient clinics. A total sample size of n=219 participants who have experienced at least one traumatic event according to criteria as defined in the DSM-5 will be recruited. For the investigation of the diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility of the CAPS-5, participants will be categorised into one of three groups, depending on their traumatic experiences and post-traumatic symptomatology: (1) monotraumatisation with PTSD; (2) multiple traumatisation with PTSD and (3) traumatisation without PTSD. Interviews will be conducted face to face by interviewers in routine clinical settings. All participants will also be asked to complete a comprehensive set of questionnaires in order to investigate different facets of construct validity and clinical utility. First, differences between all three groups in CAPS-5 sum and subscale scores will be investigated. Test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability will be determined. Internal consistency will be calculated using structural equation modeling (SEM) based internal consistency coefficients. Construct validity will be measured with Spearman's rank correlation analyses and multivariate analyses of variance with Holm-Bonferroni corrected post hoc analysis of variances. In order to test diagnostic accuracy, receiver operating characteristics and sensitivity and specificity analyses will be conducted. The model structure of the German CAPS-5 will be analysed using confirmatory factor analyses. Ethics and dissemination The study received ethical approval by the Ethics Committees of the Faculty of Psychology at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum (reference numbers: 331 and 358). The results of the study will be presented nationally and internationally at scientific conferences and will be published in scientific journals. Trial registration number DRKS0001532

The Selaginella Genome Identifies Genetic Changes Associated with the Evolution of Vascular Plants

International audienceVascular plants appeared ~410 million years ago, then diverged into several lineages of which only two survive: the euphyllophytes (ferns and seed plants) and the lycophytes. We report here the genome sequence of the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii (Selaginella), the first nonseed vascular plant genome reported. By comparing gene content in evolutionarily diverse taxa, we found that the transition from a gametophyte- to a sporophyte-dominated life cycle required far fewer new genes than the transition from a nonseed vascular to a flowering plant, whereas secondary metabolic genes expanded extensively and in parallel in the lycophyte and angiosperm lineages. Selaginella differs in posttranscriptional gene regulation, including small RNA regulation of repetitive elements, an absence of the trans-acting small interfering RNA pathway, and extensive RNA editing of organellar genes