Age, growth and bathymetric distribution of red pandora (Pagellus erythrinus) on the Cretan shelf (eastern Mediterranean)

Author(s):  
Stylianos Somarakis ◽  
Athanassios Machias

Data from bottom trawl surveys conducted each summer, winter and spring on the Cretan shelf from 1988 to 1991, were used to study the age, growth, maturity and bathymetric distribution of red pandora (Pagellus erythrinus). The good agreement of back-calculated and observed lengths-at-age with length frequencies and the marginal increment analysis, supported the annual nature of scale marks. A comparison of available growth data from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic revealed higher lengths-at-age for red pandora in the north-western Mediterranean and the Atlantic than in the central and eastern Mediterranean. The auximetric analysis, i.e. the double logarithmic plot of the parameter K of the von Bertalanffy growth function vs asymptotic length (L∞), showed a strong negative relationship for the central and eastern Mediterranean data set, implying a common ‘growth space’ for the populations in these areas. Lengths-at-maturity were lower on the Cretan shelf than in the Atlantic. These differences were attributed to the synergistic combination of trophic and thermal conditions.  Depth, temperature and salinity data were combined with biological data on abundance, fish size, age and maturity. In general, mean size increased with bottom depth because smaller individuals tended to be found in shallower and warmer waters. Individuals having reached first maturity were mainly distributed in the periphery of the algal/angiosperm meadows (60–80 m). All detailed studies of the bathymetric distribution and movements of shelf-dwelling demersal species (Mullus barbatus, Mullus surmuletus, Lepidotrigla cavillone and Pagellus erythrinus) in the Mediterranean show that these species are characterized by a spring–summer spawning season, a high concentration of spawning adults at mid-shelf depths, and nursery grounds located in the vegetated shallows. This multispecies pattern might have an adaptive function with both ecological and management implications.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Vogel

<p>The ecosystems of the Mediterranean Basin are particularly prone to climate change and related alterations in climatic anomalies. The seasonal timing of climatic anomalies is crucial for the assessment of the corresponding ecosystem impacts; however, the incorporation of seasonality is neglected in many studies. We quantify ecosystem vulnerability by investigating deviations of the climatic drivers temperature and soil moisture during phases of low ecosystem productivity for each month of the year over the period 1999 – 2019. The fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) is used as a proxy for ecosystem productivity. Air temperature is obtained from the reanalysis data set ERA5 Land and soil moisture and FAPAR satellite products are retrieved from ESA CCI and Copernicus Global Land Service, respectively. Our results show that Mediterranean ecosystems are vulnerable to three soil moisture regimes during the course of the year. A phase of vulnerability to hot and dry conditions during late spring to midsummer is followed by a period of vulnerability to cold and dry conditions in autumn. The third phase is characterized by cold and wet conditions coinciding with low ecosystem productivity in winter and early spring. These phases illustrate well the shift between a soil moisture-limited regime in summer and an energy-limited regime in winter in the Mediterranean Basin. Notably, the vulnerability to hot and dry conditions during the course of the year is prolonged by several months in the Eastern Mediterranean compared to the Western Mediterranean. Our approach facilitates a better understanding of ecosystem vulnerability at certain stages during the year and is easily transferable to other study areas and ecoclimatological variables.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 5259-5276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ayache ◽  
Jean-Claude Dutay ◽  
Thomas Arsouze ◽  
Sidonie Révillon ◽  
Jonathan Beuvier ◽  
...  

Abstract. An extensive compilation of published neodymium (Nd) concentrations and isotopic compositions (Nd IC) was realized in order to establish a new database and a map (using a high-resolution geological map of the area) of the distribution of these parameters for all the Mediterranean margins. Data were extracted from different kinds of samples: river solid discharge deposited on the shelf, sedimentary material collected on the margin or geological material outcropping above or close to a margin. Additional analyses of surface sediments were done in order to improve this data set in key areas (e.g. Sicilian strait). The Mediterranean margin Nd isotopic signatures vary from non-radiogenic values around the Gulf of Lion, (εNd values  ∼  −11) to radiogenic values around the Aegean and the Levantine sub-basins up to +6. Using a high-resolution regional oceanic model (1/12° of horizontal-resolution), εNd distribution was simulated for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea. The high resolution of the model provides a unique opportunity to represent a realistic thermohaline circulation in the basin and thus apprehend the processes governing the Nd isotope distribution in the marine environment. Results are consistent with the preceding conclusions on boundary exchange (BE) as an important process in the Nd oceanic cycle. Nevertheless this approach simulates a too-radiogenic value in the Mediterranean Sea; this bias will likely be corrected once the dust and river inputs will be included in the model. This work highlights that a significant interannual variability of εNd distribution in seawater could occur. In particular, important hydrological events such as the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT), associated with deep water formed in the Aegean sub-basin, could induce a shift in εNd at deep/intermediate depths that could be noticeable in the eastern part of the basin. This underlines that the temporal and geographical variations of εNd could represent an interesting insight of Nd as tracer of the Mediterranean Sea circulation, in particular in the context of palaeo-oceanographic applications.


2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Korres ◽  
A. Lascaratos

Abstract. The present study deals with the implementation of an eddy resolving model of the Levantine and Aegean basins and its one-way nesting with a coarse resolution (1/8° × 1/8°) global Mediterranean general circulation model. The modelling effort is done within the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting System Pilot Project as an initiative towards real-time forecasting within the eastern Mediterranean region. The performed climatological runs of the nested model have shown very promising results on the ability of the model to capture correctly the complex dynamics of the area and at the same time to demonstrate the skill and robustness of the nesting technique applied. A second aim of this study is to prepare a comprehensive climatological surface boundary conditions data set for the Mediterranean Sea. This data set has been developed within the framework of the same research project and is suitable for use in ocean circulation models of the Mediterranean Sea or parts of it. The computation is based on the ECMWF 6-h atmospheric parameters for the period 1979–1993 and a calibrated set of momentum and heat flux bulk formulae resulted from previous studies for the Mediterranean region. Key words. Oceanography: general (numerical modelling); physical (general circulation; air-sea interactions)


Author(s):  
Alba Rey-Iglesia ◽  
Philippe Gaubert ◽  
Gonçalo Espregueira Themudo ◽  
Rosa Pires ◽  
Constanza De La Fuente ◽  
...  

Abstract The Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus is one of the most threatened marine mammals, with only 600–700 individuals restricted to three populations off the coast of Western Sahara and Madeira (North Atlantic) and between Greece and Turkey (eastern Mediterranean). Its original range was from the Black Sea (eastern Mediterranean) to Gambia (western African coast), but was drastically reduced by commercial hunting and human persecution since the early stages of marine exploitation. We here analyse 42 mitogenomes of Mediterranean monk seals, from across their present and historical geographic ranges to assess the species population dynamics over time. Our data show a decrease in genetic diversity in the last 200 years. Extant individuals presented an almost four-fold reduction in genetic diversity when compared to historical specimens. We also detect, for the first time, a clear segregation between the two North Atlantic populations, Madeira and Cabo Blanco, regardless of their geographical proximity. Moreover, we show the presence of historical gene-flow between the two water basins, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and the presence of at least one extinct maternal lineage in the Mediterranean. Our work demonstrates the advantages of using full mitogenomes in phylogeographic and conservation genomic studies of threatened species.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 287-295
Author(s):  
Zhiming Zhou ◽  
Haihui Huang ◽  
Yong Liang

BACKGROUND: In genome research, it is particularly important to identify molecular biomarkers or signaling pathways related to phenotypes. Logistic regression model is a powerful discrimination method that can offer a clear statistical explanation and obtain the classification probability of classification label information. However, it is unable to fulfill biomarker selection. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to give the model efficient gene selection capability. METHODS: In this paper, we propose a new penalized logsum network-based regularization logistic regression model for gene selection and cancer classification. RESULTS: Experimental results on simulated data sets show that our method is effective in the analysis of high-dimensional data. For a large data set, the proposed method has achieved 89.66% (training) and 90.02% (testing) AUC performances, which are, on average, 5.17% (training) and 4.49% (testing) better than mainstream methods. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method can be considered a promising tool for gene selection and cancer classification of high-dimensional biological data.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Zalmen Henkin

Abstract Encroachment of woody plants into grasslands and subsequent brush management are among the most prominent changes occurring in arid and semiarid ecosystems over the past century. The reduced number of farms, the abandonment of marginal land and the decline of traditional farming practices have led to encroachment of the woody and shrubby components into grasslands. This phenomenon, specifically in the Mediterranean region, which is followed by a reduction in herbage production, biodiversity and increased fire risk, is generally considered an undesirable process. Sarcopoterium spinosum has had great success in the eastern Mediterranean as a colonizer and dominant bush species on a wide variety of sites and climatic conditions. In the Mediterranean dehesa, the high magnitude and intensity of shrub encroachment effects on pastures and on tree production were shown to be dependent on temporal variation. Accordingly, there are attempts to transform shrublands into grassland-woodland matrices by using different techniques. The main management interventions that are commonly used include grazing, woodcutting, shrub control with herbicides or by mechanical means, amelioration of plant mineral deficits in the soil, and fire. However, the effects of these various treatments on the shrubs under diverse environmental conditions were found to be largely context-specific. As such, the most efficient option for suppressing encroachment of shrubs is combining different interventions. Appropriate management of grazing, periodic control of the shrub component, and occasional soil nutrient amelioration can lead to the development of attractive open woodland with a productive herbaceous understory that provides a wider range of ecological services.


2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryoichi Doi

Observation of leaf spectral profile (color) enables suitable management measures to be taken for crop production. An optical scanner was used: 1) to obtain an equation to determine the greenness of plant leaves and 2) to examine the power to discriminate among plants grown under different nutritional conditions. Sweet basil seedlings grown on vermiculite were supplemented with one-fifth-strength Hoagland solutions containing 0, 0.2, 1, 5, 20, and 50 mM NH4+. The 5 mM treatment resulted in the greatest leaf and shoot weights, indicating a quadratic growth response pattern to the NH4+ gradient. An equation involving b*, black and green to describe the greenness of leaves was provided by the spectral profiling of a color scale for rice leaves as the standard. The color scale values for the basil leaves subjected to 0.2 and 1 mM NH4+ treatments were 1.00 and 1.12, respectively. The other treatments resulted in significantly greater values of 2.25 to 2.42, again indicating a quadratic response pattern. Based on the spectral data set consisting of variables of red-green-blue and other color models and color scale values, in discriminant analysis, 81% of the plants were correctly classified into the six NH4+ treatment groups. Combining the spectral data set with the growth data set consisting of leaf and shoot weights, 92% of the plant samples were correctly classified whereas, using the growth data set, only 53% of plants were correctly classified. Therefore, the optical scanning of leaves and the use of spectral profiles helped plant diagnosis when biomass measurements were not effective.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 5089-5105 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Schicker ◽  
S. Radanovics ◽  
P. Seibert

Abstract. Considering the Mediterranean as a region of high evaporation and low precipitation, evaluations of sinks and sources of moisture and precipitation in the Mediterranean basin have been carried out within the frame of the CIRCE (Climate Change and Impact Research: the Mediterranean Environment) project. Besides these evaluations, residence time and stagnation/ventilation analyses have been carried out to investigate transport to and from the Mediterranean basin and in the basin itself. A Lagrangian moisture diagnosis method calculating budgets of evaporation minus precipitation was applied to a 5.5 year (October 1999–April 2005) trajectory data set and evaluated for eight representative Mediterranean Regions Of Interest (ROI). The Mediterranean basin has been identified as a major source of moisture and precipitation to the surrounding land area and to the basin itself. Main regions of stagnation, i.e. the Po basin, have been defined on a seasonal basis through residence time analysis. Evaluation of the transport to and from the basin shows that the Mediterranean is a crossroad of airstreams where air enters mainly from the northwest and continues in two separate streams, one going southwest over North Africa into the trade wind zone and the other one to the northeast through Central Asia.


Jurnal Hukum ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Edanur Yıldız

Turkey and Greece are again dragged into a new conflict in the East Mediterranean. Turkey and Greece vie for supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey, for its part, indicated that Greece's claim to the territory would amount to a siege in the country by giving Greece a disproportionate amount of territory. This study aims to rethink the conflict between Greece and Turkey in the waters of the Mediterranean sea in the view of international maritime law. This study uses an empirical juridical approach. The Result of this research is Turkey does not ignore the Greece rights, Greece ignores the international law with its extended or excessive maritime claims. Greece tries to give full entitlement of the islands in Mediterranean and Agean. Whereas the effect Formula is applied by international courts.


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