Model estimates of metazoans' contributions to the biological carbon pump

Funding: This work was supported by the Centre for Ocean Life, a VKR Centre of Excellence funded by the Villum Foundation, and by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant no. 5479). André W. Visser was funded in part through the Horizon 2020 project ECOTIP (grant no. 869383). Andrew S. Brierley and Roland Proud were funded in part through the EU BG3 project “SUMMER” and BG8 project “Mission Atlantic”. Collated echo-sounder data obtained from the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) included observations made during the Atlantic Meridional Transect. The Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) is funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council through its National Capability Long-term Single Centre Science Programme, Climate Linked Atlantic Sector Science (grant number NE/R015953/1).The daily vertical migrations of fish and other metazoans actively transport organic carbon from the ocean surface to depth, contributing to the biological carbon pump. We use an oxygen-constrained, game-theoretic food-web model to simulate diel vertical migrations and estimate near-global (global ocean minus coastal areas and high latitudes) carbon fluxes and sequestration by fish and zooplankton due to respiration, fecal pellets, and deadfalls. Our model provides estimates of the carbon export and sequestration potential for a range of pelagic functional groups, despite uncertain biomass estimates of some functional groups. While the export production of metazoans and fish is modest (∼20 % of global total), we estimate that their contribution to carbon sequestered by the biological pump (∼800 PgC) is conservatively more than 50 % of the estimated global total (∼1300 PgC) and that they have a significantly longer sequestration timescale (∼250 years) than previously reported for other components of the biological pump. Fish and multicellular zooplankton contribute about equally to this sequestered carbon pool. This essential ecosystem service could be at risk from both unregulated fishing on the high seas and ocean deoxygenation due to climate change.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Expansion and further delineation of the SETD5 phenotype leading to global developmental delay, variable dysmorphic features, and reduced penetrance

Diagnostic exome sequencing (DES) has aided delineation of the phenotypic spectrum of rare genetic etiologies of intellectual disability (ID). A SET domain containing 5 gene (SETD5) phenotype of ID and dysmorphic features has been previously described in relation to patients with 3p25.3 deletions and in a few individuals with de novo sequence alterations. Herein, we present additional patients with pathogenic SETD5 sequence alterations. The majority of patients in this cohort and previously reported have developmental delay, behavioral/psychiatric issues, and variable hand and skeletal abnormalities. We also present an apparently unaffected carrier mother of an affected individual and a carrier mother with normal intelligence and affected twin sons. We suggest that the phenotype of SETD5 is more complex and variable than previously presented. Therefore, many features and presentations need to be considered when evaluating a patient for SETD5 alterations through DES

From wastewater to resource

Eighty percent of wastewater is left untreated or not reused, exacerbating the water quality challenge, especially in vulnerable communities. This Voices asks: how can we improve wastewater management and convert wastewater into a resource?Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Energie and IndustrieBT/Environmental BiotechnologyBT/Biotechnology and Societ

Ecological analogies between estuarine bottom trawl fish assemblages from Patos Lagoon, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and York River, Virginia, USA

The structure of estuarine fish assemblages at temperate latitudes in Patos Lagoon (32°05’S, 52°04’W), Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and York River (37°17’N, 76°33’W), Virginia, USA was compared using mid and late 1970’s data from bottom trawl collection to investigate whether geographically isolated fish assemblages have similar ecological structure given similar latitudinal positions on the warm-temperate southwestern and northwestern Atlantic regions, respectively. Since estuarine species often exhibit an ontogenetic shift in habitat requirements or preferences we examined Capture per Unity of Effort by size class (CPUE-SC) and split species into “size ecological taxa” (SET) for analysis. The use of CPUE-SC also allowed the abundance of a SET to be computed by summing the mean CPUE of each size class within that SET and use this information to follows SET’s temporal and or spatial abundance. A total of 65 and 63 species was collected during a year of bottom trawling in the Patos Lagoon and York River estuaries, respectively. In both localities the strongest modal size class was < 80 mm TL, and several abundant species were smaller than 100 mm TL. The size between 80 and 100 TL effectively separated several species into discrete SET’s in both systems. Those SET’s could have different ecological preferences, temporal and spatial distributions and so identified as different "ecological taxa". In warm months, when predation by large fish is most likely, the abundance of fish between 80 and 100 mm TL in "bottom trawl" demersal fish assemblages was low in both systems. Only the sea catfishes, in Patos Lagoon, protected by strong dorsal and pectoral spines, and the Hogchoker, in the York River, protected by burrowing in the bottom substrate, peak in abundance at this size class. The seasonal pattern of estuarine use was similar between localities and did not differ from other warm-temperate estuarine fish assemblages.A estrutura das assembléias de peixes de dois estuários temperados – Lagoa dos Patos, Brasil e York River, Estados Unidos – foi comparada usando dados de rede de arrasto de fundo, da década de 70, em ambas as regiões. O objetivo do trabalho foi o de investigar se a fauna de peixes de dois estuários, localizados em duas regiões temperadas-quente do Atlântico, embora isolados geograficamente (Hemisfério Sul e Norte), apresentavam a mesma estrutura ecológica. Considerando a ontogenia das espécies utilizou-se o método da Captura por Unidade de Esforço por Classe de Tamanho (CPUE-CT) para separar as espécies dominantes em Unidades Ecológicas de Tamanho (UET). O uso da técnica do CPUE-CT permite que a abundância das UET seja computada através da soma da abundância de cada uma das classes de tamanho que incorporam estas UET e desta forma usar o CPUE das UET para estudar sua variação temporal ou espacial de abundância. Após um ano de coleta mensal foram observadas 65 espécies nas coletas de arrasto de fundo na Laguna dos Patos e 63 espécies no York River. Em ambas as localidades as maiores modas de tamanho foram menores que 80 mm de comprimento total (CT), e diversas espécies ocorrem em tamanho menor do que 100 mm CT. Entre 80 e 100 mm CT foi possível separar efetivamente diversas espécies em UET. Diferentes UET de uma mesma espécie ocorrem em diferentes habitats e em épocas distintas, podendo assim ser classificadas como “Taxas Ecológicos” distintos de uma mesma espécie. Nos meses quentes, quando ocorre a maior pressão de predação dos grandes peixes piscívoros, a abundância dos peixes com tamanhos entre 80 e 100 mm CT nas coletas de arrasto de fundo é baixa em ambos os sistemas. Somente dois grupos de peixes são abundantes neste tamanho, os bagres marinhos da Laguna dos Patos que estão protegidos da predação pelos espinhos dorsais e peitorais, e o linguado-Zebra no York River, que se enterra no substrato evitando a predação