A rare hybridization event in two common Caribbean wrasses (genus Halichoeres; family Labridae)

Molecular tools were used to evaluate the hybrid status of a specimen with intermediate colour pattern between Halichoeres bivittatus and Halichoeres garnoti from Belize. Phylogenetic analyses of the two species, eight Halichoeres species from new and old world lineages and two outgroups showed that the study species are closely related and that H. garnoti is the maternal contributor to the putative hybrid specimen, based on partial mitochondrial COI data. Direct sequencing of Intron 1 of the nuclear ribosomal protein S7 identified H. bivittatus as sister to H. garnoti with the putative hybrid specimen in an intermediate position, due to heterozygosity at nucleotides alternatively fixed in the two putative parent species. This is consistent with the hybrid status of the specimen, with parental contributions from both H. garnoti and H. bivittatus. These results, combined with no evidence of introgression between the two parent species (based on the mtDNA and the single investigated nuclear marker) and the biogeography and ecology of these species suggests that this is a rare event with minimal evolutionary implications

Quadratic Transformations of the Sixth Painleve Equation

Kyushu University 21st Century COE Program Development of Dynamic Mathematics with High Functionality九州大学21世紀COEプログラム「機能数理学の構築と展開」Concise forms of Kitaev’s quadratic transformation between Painleve VI equations with the local monodromy differences (1/2, 1/2, a, b) and (a, a, b, b) are presented. This transformation is related to better known quadratic transformations (due to Manin and Ramani-Grammaticos-Tamizhmani) via Okamoto transformations. Using the new concise formulas, we derive explicit expressions for several algebraic Painleve VI functions

Courage under fire: Seagrass persistence adjacent to a highly urbanisedcity–state

Due to increasing development Southeast Asia’s coastlines are undergoing massive changes, but the associated impacts on marine habitats are poorly known. Singapore, a densely populated island city–state, is a quintessential example of coastal modification that has resulted in the (hitherto undocumented) loss of seagrass. We reconstructed the historic extent and diversity of local seagrass meadows through herbarium records and backwards extrapolation from contemporary seagrass locations. We also determined the current status of seagrass meadows using long-term monitoring data and identified the main threats to their presence in Singapore. Results show that, even though ~45% of seagrass has been lost during the last five decades, species diversity remains stable. The main cause of seagrass loss was, and continues to be, land reclamation. We conclude that strict controls on terrestrial runoff and pollution have made it possible for seagrass to persist adjacent to this highly urbanised city–state

Data from: Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success

Item does not contain fulltextData from: Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success. Nature Communications In this study, we experimentally tested how mimicking key emergent traits that locally suppress physical stress using biodegradable establishment structures can increase restoration success. Experiments across (sub)tropical and temperate seagrass and salt marsh systems demonstrate greatly enhanced yields when individuals are transplanted within structures mimicking emergent traits that suppress waves or sediment mobility. Specifically, belowground mimics of dense root mats most facilitated seagrasses via sediment stabilization, while mimics of aboveground plant structures most facilitated marsh grasses by reducing stem movement. This dataset contains data of plant performance of the experimental plots, sediment movement data of seagrass plots, and stem movement data of the flume experiment.nul

Toward a coordinated global observing system for seagrasses and marine macroalgae

In coastal waters around the world, the dominant primary producers are benthic macrophytes, including seagrasses and macroalgae, that provide habitat structure and food for diverse and abundant biological communities and drive ecosystem processes. Seagrass meadows and macroalgal forests play key roles for coastal societies, contributing to fishery yields, storm protection, biogeochemical cycling and storage, and important cultural values. These socio-economically valuable services are threatened worldwide by human activities, with substantial areas of seagrass and macroalgal forests lost over the last half-century. Tracking the status and trends in marine macrophyte cover and quality is an emerging priority for ocean and coastal management, but doing so has been challenged by limited coordination across the numerous efforts to monitor macrophytes, which vary widely in goals, methodologies, scales, capacity, governance approaches, and data availability. Here, we present a consensus assessment and recommendations on the current state of and opportunities for advancing global marine macrophyte observations, integrating contributions from a community of researchers with broad geographic and disciplinary expertise. With the increasing scale of human impacts, the time is ripe to harmonize marine macrophyte observations by building on existing networks and identifying a core set of common metrics and approaches in sampling design, field measurements, governance, capacity building, and data management. We recommend a tiered observation system, with improvement of remote sensing and remote underwater imaging to expand capacity to capture broad-scale extent at intervals of several years, coordinated with stratified in situ sampling annually to characterize the key variables of cover and taxonomic or functional group composition, and to provide ground-truth. A robust networked system of macrophyte observations will be facilitated by establishing best practices, including standard protocols, documentation, and sharing of resources at all stages of workflow, and secure archiving of open-access data. Because such a network is necessarily distributed, sustaining it depends on close engagement of local stakeholders and focusing on building and long-term maintenance of local capacity, particularly in the developing world. Realizing these recommendations will produce more effective, efficient, and responsive observing, a more accurate global picture of change in vegetated coastal systems, and stronger international capacity for sustaining observations

Data from: Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success

Data from: Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success. Nature Communications In this study, we experimentally tested how mimicking key emergent traits that locally suppress physical stress using biodegradable establishment structures can increase restoration success. Experiments across (sub)tropical and temperate seagrass and salt marsh systems demonstrate greatly enhanced yields when individuals are transplanted within structures mimicking emergent traits that suppress waves or sediment mobility. Specifically, belowground mimics of dense root mats most facilitated seagrasses via sediment stabilization, while mimics of aboveground plant structures most facilitated marsh grasses by reducing stem movement. This dataset contains data of plant performance of the experimental plots, sediment movement data of seagrass plots, and stem movement data of the flume experiment