Bottom-Up Control of Macrobenthic Communities in a Guanotrophic Coastal System

Soft bottom macrobenthic communities were studied seasonally in three coastal ponds (Marinello ponds, Italy) at increasing distances from a gull (Larus michahellis) colony to in- vestigate the effect of seabird-induced eutrophication (i.e. guanotrophication) on macro- benthic fauna.We hypothesized that enhanced nutrient concentration and organic load caused by guano input significantly alter the trophic and sedimentological condition of ponds, affecting benthic fauna through a bottom-up control. The influence of a set of envi- ronmental features on macrobenthic assemblages was also tested. Overall, the lowest macrobenthic abundances and functional group diversity were found in deeper sites, espe- cially in the pond characterised by severe guanotrophication, where the higher disturbance resulted in a decline in suspension feeders and carnivores in favour of deposit feeders. An increase in opportunistic/tolerant taxa (e.g. chironomid larvae and paraonids) and totally azoic sediments were also found as an effect of the harshest environmental conditions, re- sulting in a very poor ecological status. We conclude that macrobenthic assemblages of the Marinello coastal system display high spatial variability due to a synergistic effect of trophic status and the geomorphological features of the ponds. Themacrobenthic response to gua- notrophication, which was a clear decrease in abundance, diversity and trophic functional groups, was associated with the typical response to severe eutrophication, magnified by the geomorphological features

Coexisting with the alien: Evidence for environmental control on trophic interactions between a native (Atherina boyeri) and a non-indigenous fish species (Gambusia holbrooki) in a Mediterranean coastal ecosystem

Biological invasions are a widespread problem worldwide, as invasive non-indigenous species (NIS) may affect native populations through direct (e. g., predation) or indirect (e.g., competition) trophic interactions, leading to changes in the food web structure. The trophic relationships of the invasive eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki and the native big-scale sand smelt Atherina boyeri coexisting in three Mediterranean coastal ponds characterized by different trophic statuses (from oligotrophic to hypereutrophic) were assessed in spring through isotopic niche analysis and Bayesian mixing models. The two fish relied on the distinctive trophic pathways in the different ponds, with the evidence of minimal interspecific niche overlap indicating site-specific niche divergence mechanisms. In more detail, under hypereutrophic and mesotrophic conditions, the two species occupied different trophic positions but relying on a single trophic pathway, whereas, under oligotrophic conditions, both occupied a similar trophic position but belonging to distinct trophic pathways. Furthermore, the invaders showed the widest niche breadth while the native species showed a niche compression and displacement in the ponds at a higher trophic status compared to the oligotrophic pond. We argue that this may be the result of an asymmetric competition arising between the two species because of the higher competitive ability of G. holbrooki and may have been further shaped by the trophic status of the ponds, through a conjoint effect of prey availability and habitat complexity. While the high trophic plasticity and adaptability of both species to different environmental features and resource availability may have favored their coexistence through site-specific mechanisms of niche segregation, we provide also empirical evidence of the importance of environmental control in invaded food webs, calling for greater attention to this aspect in future studies

Aquaculture of emerging species in North-Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea: a systematic review on sea cucumber farming and potential development

Sea cucumbers are considered a traditional food delicacy in Asian countries. In last decades high market demand, uncontrolled exploitation and inadequate management have led to stock overexploitation, driving commercial interest in new target species and new areas. In recent years, Mediterranean and North-East Atlantic sea cucumbers have become fishing targets, and, due to overfishing, a significant decline of wild populations have been observed, with detrimental effects on benthic communities and ecosystems. Indeed, in addition to being an important economic resource, sea cucumbers play a key ecological role in benthic dynamics where they are involved as ecosystem engineers in the processing of organic matter in the detrital food web pathway. In this context, aquaculture can play a crucial role in supporting the conservation of natural stocks by reducing harvesting pressure on wild populations and enabling restoration programmes for depleted stocks. Commercial sea cucumber farming is already an established reality in the Indo-Pacific region, where it has become one of the most profitable sectors of aquaculture production. In Europe, on the other hand, sea cucumber aquaculture is still an emerging sector, whose development is hampered by poor and fragmented information on the farming requirements of native species. In this context, this systematic review was carried out with the aim of providing a comprehensive summary of the state of the art of farming practices of the European sea cucumbers considered as a target of commercial fisheries. A total of 34 original articles were included in this review, after title, abstract and full-text screening. The results highlighted a sharp increase in the number of studies over the last six years. Portugal, Turkey and Italy are the countries where most research has been carried out. Among the selected species, Holothuria tubulosa was the most studied, while only one article was found on Parastichopus regalis. The main aims of this review were i) to gather all available literature on the farming practices of North-East Atlantic and Mediterranean sea cucumber species, ii) to outline the most common farming practices, iii) to identify gaps and future directions in this emerging aquaculture sector

Fish assemblages cope with ocean acidification in a shallow volcanic CO2 vent benefiting from an adjacent recovery area

Shallow CO2 vents are used to test ecological hypotheses about the effects of ocean acidification (OA). Here, we studied fish assemblages associated with Cymodocea nodosa meadows exposed to high pCO2/low pH conditions at a natural CO2 vent in the Mediterranean Sea. Using underwater visual census, we assessed fish community structure and biodiversity in a low pH site (close to the CO2 vent), a close control site and a far control site, hypothesising a decline in biodiversity and a homogenization of fish assemblages under OA conditions. Our findings revealed that fish diversity did not show a unique spatial pattern, or even significant relationships with pH, but correlated with seagrass leaf canopy. Among-site similarity was found in the abundance of juveniles, contrary to the expected impacts of OA on early life stages. However, pH seems an important driver in structuring fish assemblage in the low pH site, despite its high similarity with the close control site. This unexpected pattern may represent a combined response of fish mobility, enhanced food resources in the acidified site, and a ‘recovery area’ effect of the adjacent control site

RNA/DNA ratios as estimate of metabolic and functional traits in diatom species from the northwestern Adriatic Sea

Different phytoplankton biomass estimations can provide information about abundance variation, but they are not able to describe the metabolic activity of species or groups within assemblages. Conversely, molecular traits are key for the metabolic dynamics in pelagic ecosystems. To investigate if the RNA/DNA and taxon-specific 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA)/ribosomal DNA (rDNA) ratios could be used to assess and be indicators of metabolic activity in marine phytoplankton species, two Adriatic diatom species, Chaetoceros socialis and Skeletonema marinoi, were studied. Significant correlations between abundance, chlorophyll a, carbon content and proteins were found in individual and co-cultured growth experiments (from r(s) = 0.570 to r(s) = 0.986, P < 0.001). The biomass trend followed a logistic curve without providing additional information regarding diatom metabolic activity. In both experiments, the RNA/DNA and taxon-specific 18S rRNA/rDNA ratios of C. socialis and S. marinoi showed maximum values at the beginning of the growth phase, i.e as 23.2 +/- 1.5 and 15.3 +/- 0.8, and 16.2 +/- 1.6 and 30.1 +/- 5.4 after 2 and 6 days, respectively, in individual cultures, with a subsequent significant decrease in these values for both species in individual and co-culture experiments. Our results showed that these molecular rRNA/rDNA ratios expressed an activation of metabolism before the abundance increases, even in the presence of interspecific interaction between C. socialis and S. marinoi

Turning waste into gold: Sustainable feed made of discards from the food industries promotes gonad development and colouration in the commercial sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816)

Development of sustainable aquaculture practices is a suitable solution to reduce the pressure on overexploited stocks of the Mediterranean sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus, and to respond to the increasing market demand. To move forward the Blue Growth and following the principles of circular economy, a three-month feeding experiment was conducted to test a sustainable feed based on food processing discards on sea urchins. Two feed formulations differing on the proportions of the two main ingredients (endive outermost leaves and European anchovy discards in a ratio of 60:40 and 80:20 respectively) were prepared and tested on P. lividus gonad yield, development and quality. The results were compared with those of wild sea urchins to assess the differences with natural patterns. Both feed formulations promoted gonad growth resulting in a significantly higher percentage increase in gonad biomass compared with wild specimens (490%, 330% and 78% increase in gonad weight in the feed 60/40, 80/20 and wild sea urchins respectively). Similarly, GSI of reared sea urchins varied by about 3–12% and 14% for sea urchins fed with feeds 80/20 and 60/40 respectively, while that found in wild sea urchins varied by about 3–5%. Gonad development was also boosted by the provision of the sustainable feed, as sexual maturation was faster in reared specimens than in wild ones. At the end of the trial, reared sea urchins showed also a very high (> 90%) frequency of marketable gonad colour. Lastly, the formulation with a more balanced vegetal/animal ratio (feed 60/40) gave the best results overall, combining the highest GSI and the best gonad colouration. Outcomes of this study confirm the suitability of food processing discards as ingredients for sea urchin feeds, although further research is needed to evaluate the effects on nutritional quality and organoleptic features of sea urchin gonads

Trace elements and stable isotopes in penguin chicks and eggs: A baseline for monitoring the Ross Sea MPA and trophic transfer studies

Multi-tissue trace elements (TEs), C, N concentrations and stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) of chick carcasses and eggs of Adélie and Emperor penguins were studied to i) provide reference data before the recent institution of the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (Antarctica), and ii) provide conversion factors that allow estimating C, N, δ13C and δ15N in edible tissues from non-edible ones, thus improving the use of stable isotopes in contamination and trophic transfer studies. Higher concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn and Pb were found in chick carcasses than in eggs, suggesting increasing contamination in recent decades and high toxicity risks for penguin consumers. Isotopic conversion factors highlighted small differences among body tissues and conspecifics. These values suggest that chick carcasses are reliable indicators of the energy pathways underlying the two penguin species, their trophic position in the food web and their exposure to TEs

Genetic architecture distinguishes systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis from other forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: clinical and therapeutic implications

OBJECTIVES: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a heterogeneous group of conditions unified by the presence of chronic childhood arthritis without an identifiable cause. Systemic JIA (sJIA) is a rare form of JIA characterised by systemic inflammation. sJIA is distinguished from other forms of JIA by unique clinical features and treatment responses that are similar to autoinflammatory diseases. However, approximately half of children with sJIA develop destructive, long-standing arthritis that appears similar to other forms of JIA. Using genomic approaches, we sought to gain novel insights into the pathophysiology of sJIA and its relationship with other forms of JIA. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide association study of 770 children with sJIA collected in nine countries by the International Childhood Arthritis Genetics Consortium. Single nucleotide polymorphisms were tested for association with sJIA. Weighted genetic risk scores were used to compare the genetic architecture of sJIA with other JIA subtypes. RESULTS: The major histocompatibility complex locus and a locus on chromosome 1 each showed association with sJIA exceeding the threshold for genome-wide significance, while 23 other novel loci were suggestive of association with sJIA. Using a combination of genetic and statistical approaches, we found no evidence of shared genetic architecture between sJIA and other common JIA subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of shared genetic risk factors between sJIA and other JIA subtypes supports the hypothesis that sJIA is a unique disease process and argues for a different classification framework. Research to improve sJIA therapy should target its unique genetics and specific pathophysiological pathways

Small-scale variability in geomorphological settings influences mangrove-derived organic matter export in a tropical bay

Organic matter (OM) exchanges between adjacent habitats affect the dynamics and functioning of coastal systems, as well as the role of the different primary producers as energy and nutrient sources in food webs. Elemental (C, N, C:N) and isotope (\u3b413C) signatures and fatty acid (FA) profiles were used to assess the influence of geomorphological setting in two climatic seasons on the export and fate of mangrove OM across a tidally influenced tropical area, Gazi Bay (Kenya). The main results indicate that tidal transport, along with riverine runoff, plays a significant role in the distribution of mangrove organic matter. In particular, a marked spatial variability in the export of organic matter from mangroves to adjacent habitats was due to the different settings of the creeks flowing into the bay. Kinondo Creek acted as a mangrove retention site, where export of mangrove material was limited to the contiguous intertidal area, while Kidogoweni Creek acted as a "flow-throug" system, from which mangrove material spreads into the bay, especially in the rainy season. This pattern was evident from the isotopic signature of primary producers, which were more 13C-depleted in the Kinondo Creek and nearby, due to the lower dilution of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) pool, typically depleted as an effect of intense mangrove mineralisation. Despite the trapping efficiency of the seagrass canopy, suspended particulate OM showed the important contribution of mangroves across the whole bay, up to the coral reef, as an effect of the strong ebb tide. Overall, mixing model outcomes indicated a widespread mixed contribution of both allochthonous and autochthonous OM sources across Gazi Bay. Moreover, FAs indicated a notable contribution of brown macroalgae and bacteria in both sediment and suspended pools. These results suggest that ecological connectivity in Gazi Bay is strongly influenced by geomorphological setting, which may have far-reaching consequences for the functioning of the whole ecosystem and the local food webs