Environmental diversity as a reliable surrogacy strategy of marine biodiversity: A case study of marine mammals

The first Mares Conference on Marine Ecosystems Health and Conservation was a successful event organized by the MARES doctoral programme bringing together over 150 researchers in Olhão, Portugal from November 17th to 21st 2014. The conference was opened by Prof. Dr. Hans-Otto Pörtner, whose keynote address focused on a sectoral analysis by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5) on the impacts of climate change on the world’s oceans. The first session on “Future oceans” was opened with a talk by Dr. Frank Melzner highlighting the problems calcifying invertebrates face in the warmer, more acidic and hypoxic waters. Other presenters dealt with changing global diversity patterns, ocean acidification, and the loss the genetic diversity. The second session on “Natural resources” was opened by Dr. Rainer Froese, who focused on whether or not the oceans can feed humanity. This talk introduced other contributions in the session, dealing with fisheries issues and Marine Protected Areas, as well as problems with proper identifications of species used for economic purposes. “Biodiversity effects” was the scope of the third session opened by a talk on oxygenation and marine biodiversity challenges in the 21st Century by Prof. Lisa Levin. Rapid ocean deoxygenation is a process which is currently less investigated but which has considerable effects on body size, taxonomic composition, habitat heterogeneity, and nutrient cycling. The following presentations focused on other factors having a strong effect on marine biodiversity, ranging from the harvesting of algae to the fragmentation of ecosystems. The fourth session addressed “Biological invasions”. Dr. Gregory Ruiz discussed biological invasions in North American marine ecosystems and the need for constant monitoring, and the use of a dynamic and multi-vector approach. Problems with invasive species in European waters were addressed with examples from the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. The fifth session on “Ocean Noise” was opened by Prof. Peter Tyack with a talk on the effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals. Although ocean noise issues are often linked to marine mammals, the effects of sound related to marine constructions on fish behaviour, nicely illustrated that ocean noise is a factor with a much broader impact than expected. The last session of the first Mares Conference dealt with “Habitat loss”. Dr. Michael Beck focused on this topic with his talk on ‘Building Coastal Resilience for Climate Adaptation and Risk Reduction’. Talks in the session ranged from the use of telemetry as a tool to monitor species in changed habitats, to cases dealing with sea level rise related problems in for example salt-marshes. The first Mares Conference offered a broad range of oral and poster presentations, as well as digital presentations. The poster and digital object presentations included over 100 contributions.

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Addressing Marine Wildlife Entanglement in Derelict Fishing Nets Using Community-Based Social Marketing: Case Study and Lessons Learnt

Social Marketing Quarterly ◽

10.1177/15245004211053841 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 152450042110538

Author(s):

Maïa Sarrouf Willson ◽

Craig Turley ◽

Lamees A. Daar ◽

Hussein Al Masroori ◽

Hussain Al Muscati ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Social Marketing ◽

Behavioural Change ◽

Marine Species ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Community Based ◽

One To One ◽

Marine Wildlife

Background Entanglement of marine species, particularly endangered sea turtles and cetaceans, in abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear is a major conservation concern. Focus of the Article This case study applies Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) to reduce marine wildlife net entanglement in the waters surrounding Masirah Island, a marine biodiversity hotspot in Oman. Importance to the Social Marketing Field The study demonstrates the use of social marketing tools in biodiversity conservation, bringing new knowledge to the cross-application of these two fields. Methods The CBSM methodology was applied to select behaviours, identify barriers and benefits, develop strategies and design a pilot study. The responsible disposal of derelict nets in skip bins was selected as the target behaviour, and a mix of behavioural change tools was applied to achieve change: convenience (installation of three skip bins), education (installation of informative signs, distribution of awareness posters, one-to-one engagement with fishers on the beaches), prompts (installation of signs and posters on vessels) and social norms (one-to-one engagement with key influencers and decision makers). The monitoring of behaviour change took place through structured observations over 23 weeks, focussing on the number of nets disposed of in the allocated skip bins. Results Results showed a low level of behaviour adoption rate by skiff and launch vessel fisheries, respectively, 5.36% and 2.58%. Positive results were observed for a short time but did not reach the estimated target value throughout the study period. Recommendations for Research Our pilot study did not lead to broad-scale implementation and we recommend further awareness and engagement with the target audience, trials of various behaviour change tools and increase field monitoring time. We further recommend the application and funding of behaviour change methods applied to fishers with the incorporation of conventional financial, conservation and regulatory tools to support resource management. Limitations Our results show that focussing on specific behaviours with appropriate measurement is both resource and time demanding to solve pressing conservation problems, particularly ones generated by complex industries such as fishing. Various lessons, useful for other social marketers, have been drawn from our evaluation of the overall study.

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Numerical Modelling as a Support Tool for River Habitat Studies: An Italian Case Study

Water ◽

10.3390/w11030482 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 482 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Michael Nones

Keyword(s):

Numerical Modelling ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Numerical Models ◽

Habitat Diversity ◽

Qualitative Description ◽

Po River ◽

Environmental Diversity ◽

Support Tool ◽

Italian Case

Numerical modelling is becoming a major tool for supporting environmental studies at different scales, thanks to the ability of up-to-date codes to reproduce the complex mechanisms of the natural environment in quite a reliable manner. In evaluating the habitat diversity of anthropized rivers, however, many issues are rising because of the intrinsic complexity of the physical processes involved and the limitations associated with numerical models. Using a reach of the Po River in Italy as a case study, the present works aims to provide a qualitative description of the changes of the Eco-Environmental Diversity index as a response to different constant flow discharges typically observed along this reach. The goals are achieved by means of two solvers of the freeware iRIC suite, applied in cascade to first simulate the 2D fluvial hydrodynamics and subsequently provide a qualitative estimate of the habitat conditions. Despite the several simplifications intrinsically present in the modelling cascade and the ones introduced for practical purposes, the results show that an extremely strong and long-lasting reduction of the flow discharge, like the one very recently observed, can ultimately threaten the overall biological status of the river. Because of the modelling uncertainties, these preliminary outcomes are only qualitative and show the need for more research, both in terms of data acquisition and numerical schematization, to adequately and quantitatively evaluate the effects of transient hydrology on the river ecosystems. Moreover, additional field surveys are necessary to calibrate and validate the used biological parameters, aiming to obtain sufficiently reliable estimates.

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The marine spatial classification and the identification of priority conservation areas (PCAs) for marine biodiversity conservation – A case study of the offshore China

Ocean & Coastal Management ◽

10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.06.027 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 116 ◽

pp. 224-236 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Huang Hao ◽

Chen Bin ◽

Lin Jinlan

Keyword(s):

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Conservation Areas ◽

Spatial Classification

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METAL SENSITIVITY OF MARINE MAMMALS: A CASE STUDY OF A GRAY SEAL (HALICHOERUS GRYPUS)

Marine Mammal Science ◽

10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00059.x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 985-996 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

A. Kakuschke ◽

E. Valentine-Thon ◽

S. Fonfara ◽

S. Griesel ◽

U. Siebert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Marine Mammals ◽

Halichoerus Grypus ◽

Gray Seal ◽

Metal Sensitivity

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Assessing Fishing and Marine Biodiversity Changes Using Fishers' Perceptions: The Spanish Mediterranean and Gulf of Cadiz Case Study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0085670 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. e85670 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

Marta Coll ◽

Marta Carreras ◽

Cristina Ciércoles ◽

Maria-José Cornax ◽

Giulia Gorelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Gulf Of Cadiz ◽

Gulf Of Cádiz ◽

Biodiversity Changes

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Novel Universal Primers for Metabarcoding eDNA Surveys of Marine Mammals and Other Marine Vertebrates

10.1101/759746 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Elena Valsecchi ◽

Jonas Bylemans ◽

Simon J. Goodman ◽

Roberto Lombardi ◽

Ian Carr ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Marine Mammals ◽

High Throughput Sequencing ◽

Environmental Dna ◽

16S Rrna Genes ◽

Rrna Genes ◽

Taxonomic Resolution ◽

Universal Primers ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Primer Sets ◽

Marine Megafauna

ABSTRACTMetabarcoding studies using environmental DNA (eDNA) and high throughput sequencing (HTS) are rapidly becoming an important tool for assessing and monitoring marine biodiversity, detecting invasive species, and supporting basic ecological research. Several barcode loci targeting teleost fish and elasmobranchs have previously been developed, but to date primer sets focusing on other marine megafauna, such as marine mammals have received less attention. Similarly, there have been few attempts to identify potentially ‘universal’ barcode loci which may be informative across multiple marine vertebrate Orders. Here we describe the design and validation of four new sets of primers targeting hypervariable regions of the vertebrate mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA genes, which have conserved priming sites across virtually all cetaceans, pinnipeds, elasmobranchs, boney fish, sea turtles and birds, and amplify fragments with consistently high levels of taxonomically diagnostic sequence variation. ‘In silico’ validation using the OBITOOLS software showed our new barcode loci outperformed most existing vertebrate barcode loci for taxon detection and resolution. We also evaluated sequence diversity and taxonomic resolution of the new barcode loci in 680 complete marine mammal mitochondrial genomes demonstrating that they are effective at resolving amplicons for most taxa to the species level. Finally, we evaluated the performance of the primer sets with eDNA samples from aquarium communities with known species composition. These new primers will potentially allow surveys of complete marine vertebrate communities in single HTS metabarcoding assessments, simplifying workflows, reducing costs, and increasing accessibility to a wider range of investigators.

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Marine Fishes Expert Network: findings and recommendations from the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program’s State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Report

10.7287/peerj.preprints.26780v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Kevin J Hedges ◽

Shannon MacPhee ◽

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson ◽

Edda Johannesen ◽

Catherine W Mecklenburg

Keyword(s):

Marine Fish ◽

Marine Mammals ◽

Prey Availability ◽

Marine Fishes ◽

The Arctic ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Transfer Energy ◽

Status And Trends ◽

The Status ◽

Expert Network

Pelagic and benthic fish species are important in Arctic marine ecosystems because they transfer energy to predators such as seabirds, marine mammals, as well as people. The CBMP Marine Fishes Expert Network aggregated and reviewed data on the population status and trends of three marine fish Focal Ecosystem Components (FECs) across eight Arctic Marine Areas. Fishes are affected by environmental conditions such as temperature, sea ice availability and salinity, and are constrained by prey availability and predator pressure, which can be influenced by climate change. The three marine fish FECs discussed here are indicative of different changes that are occurring in the Arctic and demonstrate the varied responses observed among species. The presentation will summarize current level of monitoring across the Arctic, the status and trends of FECs, drivers of observed trends, and knowledge and monitoring gaps.

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