First year of practical experiences of the new Arctic AWIPEV-COSYNA cabled Underwater Observatory in Kongsfjorden, Spitsbergen

A combined year-round assessment of selected oceanographic data and a macrobiotic community assess- ment was performed from October 2013 to November 2014 in the littoral zone of the Kongsfjorden polar fjord system on the western coast of Svalbard (Norway). State of the art remote controlled cabled underwater observatory technology was used for daily vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, and turbidity together with a stereo-optical assessment of the macrobiotic community, including fish. The results reveal a distinct seasonal cycle in total species abundances, with a significantly higher total abundance and species richness dur- ing the polar winter when no light is available underwater compared to the summer months when 24 h light is available. During the winter months, a temporally highly segmented community was observed with respect to species occurrence, with single species dominating the winter community for re- stricted times. In contrast, the summer community showed an overall lower total abundance as well as a significantly lower number of species. The study clearly demonstrates the high potential of cable connected remote controlled digital sampling devices, especially in remote areas, such as po- lar fjord systems, with harsh environmental conditions and limited accessibility. A smart combination of such new dig- ital “sampling” methods with classic sampling procedures can provide a possibility to significantly extend the sampling time and frequency, especially in remote and difficult to access areas. This can help to provide a sufficient data density and therefore statistical power for a sound scientific analysis without increasing the invasive sampling pressure in ecolog- ically sensitive environments

Fish, macroinvertebrates and physical oceanography including CTD profiling data from the shallow water area of Kongsfjord, Svalbard from 2013 to 2014

A combined year round assessment of selected oceanographic data and a macrobiotic community assessment was performed from October 2013 to November 2014 in the littoral zone of the polar fjord systems Kongsfjorden on the west coast of Svalbard (Norway). A state of the art remote controlled cabled underwater observatory technology was used for daily vertical profiles of temperature, salinity and turbidity together with a stereo-optical assessment of the macrobiotic community, including fish. The results reveal a distinct seasonal cycle in total species abundances with a significantly higher total abundance and species richness during the polar winter when no light is available under water compared to the summer months when 24-h light is available. During the winter months, a temporally highly segmented community was observed with respect to species occurrence with single species dominating the winter community for restricted times. In contrast, the summer community showed an overall lower total abundance, as well as a significantly lower number of species. The study clearly demonstrates the high potential of cable connected remote controlled digital sampling devices, especially in remote areas, such as the polar fjord systems, with harsh environmental conditions and limited accessibility. A smart combination of such new digital ?sampling? methods with classic sampling procedures can provide a possibility to significantly extend the sampling time and frequency especially in remote and difficult to access areas. This can help to provide a sufficient data density and therefore statistical power for a sound scientific analysis without increasing the invasive sampling pressure in ecologically sensitive environments

Physical oceanography from the shallow water area of Kongsfjord, Svalbard from 2013 to 2014

International audienceA l’heure où le parc zoologique de Vincennes, « une nouvelle espèce de zoo », a fait peau neuve et communique sur les murs de la capitale à grand renfort d’affiches présentant lions et autres animaux exotiques, le parc zoologique de Beauval réplique, en louant les écrans mobiles du métro parisien pour montrer des hippopotames et des pandas, et proposer au public de « parrainer » un animal. Voilà le visiteur invité à participer aux « programmes de conservation » via le versement d’une contribution (annuelle et renouvelable) tout en établissant « un lien fort avec [son] animal préféré ». Le rôle actif des parcs zoologiques en matière de conservation de la faune sauvage est un poncif de la communication : même si les investissements sont indéniables et que les intentions sont à première vue louables, il s’agit néanmoins de légitimer la captivité de l’animal exotique, de donner du sens à un déracinement originel sans jamais l’évoquer, de même que sont occultées les implications de cette patrimonialisation du monde animal, notamment les pratiques d’eugénisme que cette dernière suppose. Jean Estebanez a raison de rappeler que « le zoo est un espace de spectacle payant où le public vient découvrir une collection d’animaux essentiellement exotiques et, à l’origine, sauvages dans leur décor. » Mais puisque les jardins zoologiques travaillent leur communication – pour détourner l’attention de cette définition dont l’aridité met en relief des caractéristiques qui incitent au jugement négatif – nous porterons nous aussi une attention particulière au vocabulaire

The new COSYNA Underwater Node System – a transregional and transinstitutional research approach in the North Sea and in the Arctic

Coastal ecosystems are important interface zones between the terrestrial and the marine realm. Due to the continuously increasing anthropogenic pressure on most coastlines worldwide, a significant increase in the effort to monitor and assess changes in the coastal systems has been proposed. In the framework of COSYNA (Coastal Observation System of the Northern and Artic Seas), a cable connected underwater observatory for long term exposure even under extreme environmental conditions has been developed. Two prototypes of the COSYNA underwater node system have been installed in 2012 in the southern North Sea and in an Artic Fjord System (Kongsfjord Svalbard) and are operated since then continuously. These systems provide the logistic underwater platforms to operate standard sensors like ADCP and CTD as well as complex sensors like a continuous plankton recorder or a stereo-optical fish detection device with a data transmission rate up to 1 GHz year in both ecosystems. The main scientific objective of the COSYNA underwater node technology is the continuous assessment and (near) real time analysis of environmental parameters in the COSYNA target environments the North Sea and the Arctic Sea. The continuous data stream of the main oceanographic, hydraulic and biological parameters sampled synchronously in the two ecosystems year round even under extreme conditions like severe storms in the North Sea or ice coverage in the Arctic are used to monitor, analyse and to model ecosystem behaviour with respect to abiotic environmental dynamics and environmental shifts

COSYNA - Unterwasserknoten. Die neue Infrastruktur für Nordsee und Arktis

Küsten stellen Schnittstelle des Menschen zum Meer dar und sind durch vielfältige Nutzung, Klimawandel und Meeres- spiegelanstieg zunehmend betroffen. Veränderungen in der Frequenz und Stärke von Starkwind- und Sturmereignissen und deren Bedeutung für die Küstengebiete werden in diesem Zusammenhang intensiv diskutiert. Im Rahmen von COSYNA werden seit 2011 verkabelte Unterwasserknoten für flache Schelfmeere entwickelt. Sie stellen eine zentrale Technologie für ein effizientes und wetterunabhängiges Küstenmonitoring und eine daraus aufgebaute ereignisgestützte Forschung dar. Ziel der Unterwasserknoten in der Nordsee und dem Polarmeer ist: • die hoch auflösende Erfassung vielfältiger Umweltparameter in Echtzeit, auch unter extremen Umweltbedingungen (Sturm, Kälte), um deren Dynamik auf täglicher, saisonaler und klimarelevanten Zeitskalen zu erfassen und besser zu verstehen. • die Unterscheidung natürlicher Variabilität (systemabhängige/ lokale sowie systemunabhängige/potentiell allgemeingültige Prozesse) von Klimaerwärmung oder lokalen anthropogenen Einflüssen. • die Abschätzung der Auswirkung von Extremereignissen (Stürme)

A robust and powerful two-step testing procedure for local ancestry adjusted allelic association analysis in admixed populations

Genetic association studies in admixed populations allow us to gain deeper understanding of the genetic architecture of human diseases and traits. However, population stratification, complicated linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns, and the complex interplay of allelic and ancestry effects on phenotypic traits pose challenges in such analyses. These issues may lead to detecting spurious associations and/or result in reduced statistical power. Fortunately, if handled appropriately, these same challenges provide unique opportunities for gene mapping. To address these challenges and to take these opportunities, we propose a robust and powerful two-step testing procedure Local Ancestry Adjusted Allelic (LAAA) association. In the first step, LAAA robustly captures associations due to allelic effect, ancestry effect, and interaction effect, allowing detection of effect heterogeneity across ancestral populations. In the second step, LAAA identifies the source of association, namely allelic, ancestry, or the combination. By jointly modeling allele, local ancestry, and ancestry-specific allelic effects, LAAA is highly powerful in capturing the presence of interaction between ancestry and allele effect. We evaluated the validity and statistical power of LAAA through simulations over a broad spectrum of scenarios. We further illustrated its usefulness by application to the Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) African American participants for association with hemoglobin levels. We were able to replicate independent groups&#39; previously identified loci that would have been missed in CARe without joint testing. Moreover, the loci, for which LAAA detected potential effect heterogeneity, were replicated among African Americans from the Women&#39;s Health Initiative study. LAAA is freely available at . https://yunliweb.its.unc.edu/LAAA.</p