Temporal variation in the recruitment of calcareous sponges (Porifera, Calcarea) in Todos os Santos Bay, tropical Brazilian coast

2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (7) ◽  
pp. 1063-1070
Author(s):  
C. Chagas ◽  
F. Barros ◽  
F. F. Cavalcanti

AbstractRecruitment is related to the occupation of the substrate by fouling organisms. It plays an important role in the maintenance and distribution of benthic populations, being under the influence of biotic and abiotic factors. In the present work, the recruitment of calcareous sponges was monitored over two years in a marina at Todos os Santos Bay, a large bay in the tropical portion of the Brazilian coast. Artificial plates were immersed, being replaced bimonthly and the potential influence of the seawater temperature, photoperiod and precipitation on the number of sponge recruits was tested. The results showed that the number of calcareous sponge recruits had significant temporal variation. Nevertheless, different species showed different patterns over time. Significant differences were observed for Sycon avus, Sycon sp. and Leucandra serrata, and the periods with the highest number of recruits were different amongst them. Sycon bellum, Paraleucilla incomposita, Leucilla sp. and Heteropia glomerosa did not show significant variation in the number of recruits over time. None of the three tested environmental factors were correlated with the number of recruits, but results indicated S. avus recruitment might be driven by seawater temperature. Our results contribute to improve the current knowledge on the dynamics of each species found on the plates and reinforce the general view that the pattern of recruitment varies greatly in Calcarea, even amongst sympatric species.

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20150186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjetil L. Voje ◽  
Øistein H. Holen ◽  
Lee Hsiang Liow ◽  
Nils Chr. Stenseth

A multitude of hypotheses claim that abiotic factors are the main drivers of macroevolutionary change. By contrast, Van Valen's Red Queen hypothesis is often put forward as the sole representative of the view that biotic forcing is the main evolutionary driver. This imbalance of hypotheses does not reflect our current knowledge: theoretical work demonstrates the plausibility of biotically driven long-term evolution, whereas empirical work suggests a central role for biotic forcing in macroevolution. We call for a more pluralistic view of how biotic forces may drive long-term evolution that is compatible with both phenotypic stasis in the fossil record and with non-constant extinction rates. Promising avenues of research include contrasting predictions from relevant theories within ecology and macroevolution, as well as embracing both abiotic and biotic proxies while modelling long-term evolutionary data. By fitting models describing hypotheses of biotically driven macroevolution to data, we could dissect their predictions and transcend beyond pattern description, possibly narrowing the divide between our current understanding of micro- and macroevolution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercia Rasoanoro ◽  
Steven M. Goodman ◽  
Milijaona Randrianarivelojosia ◽  
Mbola Rakotondratsimba ◽  
Koussay Dellagi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Numerous studies have been undertaken to advance knowledge of apicomplexan parasites infecting vertebrates, including humans. Of these parasites, the genus Plasmodium has been most extensively studied because of the socio-economic and public health impacts of malaria. In non-human vertebrates, studies on malaria or malaria-like parasite groups have been conducted but information is far from complete. In Madagascar, recent studies on bat blood parasites indicate that three chiropteran families (Miniopteridae, Rhinonycteridae, and Vespertilionidae) are infected by the genus Polychromophilus with pronounced host specificity: Miniopterus spp. (Miniopteridae) harbour Polychromophilus melanipherus and Myotis goudoti (Vespertilionidae) is infected by Polychromophilus murinus. However, most of the individuals analysed in previous studies were sampled on the western and central portions of the island. The aims of this study are (1) to add new information on bat blood parasites in eastern Madagascar, and (2) to highlight biotic and abiotic variables driving prevalence across the island. Methods Fieldworks were undertaken from 2014 to 2016 in four sites in the eastern portion of Madagascar to capture bats and collect biological samples. Morphological and molecular techniques were used to identify the presence of haemosporidian parasites. Further, a MaxEnt modelling was undertaken using data from Polychromophilus melanipherus to identify variables influencing the presence of this parasite Results In total, 222 individual bats belonging to 17 species and seven families were analysed. Polychromophilus infections were identified in two families: Miniopteridae and Vespertilionidae. Molecular data showed that Polychromophilus spp. parasitizing Malagasy bats form a monophyletic group composed of three distinct clades displaying marked host specificity. In addition to P. melanipherus and P. murinus, hosted by Miniopterus spp. and Myotis goudoti, respectively, a novel Polychromophilus lineage was identified from a single individual of Scotophilus robustus. Based on the present study and the literature, different biotic and abiotic factors are shown to influence Polychromophilus infection in bats, which are correlated based on MaxEnt modelling. Conclusions The present study improves current knowledge on Polychromophilus blood parasites infecting Malagasy bats and confirms the existence of a novel Polychromophilus lineage in Scotophilus bats. Additional studies are needed to obtain additional material of this novel lineage to resolve its taxonomic relationship with known members of the genus. Further, the transmission mode of Polychromophilus in bats as well as its potential effect on bat populations should be investigated to complement the results provided by MaxEnt modelling and eventually provide a comprehensive picture of the biology of host-parasite interactions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1103-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joukje C Swinkels ◽  
Marjolein I Broese van Groenou ◽  
Alice de Boer ◽  
Theo G van Tilburg

Abstract Background and Objectives The general view is that partner-caregiver burden increases over time but findings are inconsistent. Moreover, the pathways underlying caregiver burden may differ between men and women. This study examines to what degree and why partner-caregiver burden changes over time. It adopts Pearlin’s Caregiver Stress Process Model, as it is expected that higher primary and secondary stressors will increase burden and larger amounts of resources will lower burden. Yet, the impact of stressors and resources may change over time. The wear-and-tear model predicts an increase of burden due to a stronger impact of stressors and lower impact of resources over time. Alternatively, the adaptation model predicts a decrease of burden due to a lower impact of stressors and higher impact of resources over time. Research Design and Methods We used 2 observations with a 1-year interval of 279 male and 443 female partner-caregivers, derived from the Netherlands Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey Minimum Data Set. We applied multilevel regression analysis, stratified by gender. Results Adjusted for all predictors, caregiver burden increased over time for both men and women. For female caregivers, the impact of poor spousal health on burden increased and the impact of fulfillment decreased over time. Among male caregivers, the impact of predictors did not change over time. Discussion and Implications The increase of burden over time supports the wear-and-tear model, in particular for women. This study highlights the need for gender-specific interventions that are focused on enabling older partners to be better prepared for long-term partner-care.


Author(s):  
Robin Le Poidevin

Change in general may be defined as the variation of properties (whether of things or of regions of space) over time. But this definition is incomplete in a number of respects. The reference to properties and time raises two important questions. The first concerns whether we need to specify further the kinds of properties which are involved in change. If we define change in an object as temporal variation of its properties we are faced with the problem that some properties of an object may alter without there being a consequent change in the object itself. The second question concerns the passage of time: does temporal variation constitute change only in virtue of some feature of time itself, namely the fact (or putative fact) that time passes? Some philosophers have wished to reject the notion of time’s passage. Are they thereby committed to a picture of the world as unchanging?


Author(s):  
Humberto F. M. Fortunato ◽  
Thierry Pérez ◽  
Gisele Lôbo-Hajdu

AbstractThe Order Suberitida is defined as a group of marine sponges without an obvious cortex, a skeleton devoid of microscleres, and with a deletion of a small loop of 15 base pairs in the secondary structure of the 28S rDNA as a molecular synapomorphy. Suberitida comprises three families and 26 genera distributed worldwide, but mostly in temperate and polar waters. Twenty species were reported along the entire Brazilian coast, and although the north-eastern coast of Brazil seems to harbour a rich sponge fauna, our current knowledge is concentrated along the south-eastern Atlantic coast. A survey was implemented along the northern coast of Brazil, and the collection allowed the identification of six species belonging to the Order Suberitida. Two of them are considered new to science: Suberites purpura sp. nov., Hymeniacidon upaonassu sp. nov., and four, Halichondria (Halichondria) marianae Santos, Nascimento & Pinheiro, 2018, Halichondria (H.) melanadocia de Laubenfels, 1936, Suberites aurantiacus (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864), and Terpios fugax Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864, are re-described. Taxonomic comparisons are made for Tropical Western Atlantic species and type species of the four genera. Finally, an identification key for the Western Atlantic Suberites species is provided.


2001 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Newman ◽  
David McB. Williams

Visual censuses were used to survey shallow-water assemblages of the Lutjanidae and Lethrinidae among three mid-continental shelf reefs, and fish traps were used to survey deeper water assemblages below diveable depths. Significant differences were found in visual censuses of the Lutjanidae and Lethrinidae among reefs. Trap catches of the Lutjanidae and Lethrinidae varied more between depths and diel sampling periods than among reefs or over time. Lutjanus carponotatus, L. fulviflamma and Lethrinus miniatus were more abundant in shallow trap sets, whereas Lutjanus adetii, L. russelli, L. sebae, L. vitta, Gymnocranius audleyi, Lethrinus sp.2 and Abalistes stellaris were more abundant in deeper sets. Additionally, Lutjanus adetii, L. fulviflamma, L. quinquelineatus, L. russelli, L. sebae, L. vitta and Lethrinus miniatus were more abundant at night, whereas Lethrinus sp. 2, Abalistes stellarisand Plectropomus leopardus were more abundant during the day. The absence of significant temporal variation in the observed spatial patterns both among reefs and between depths indicates that these patterns may persist through time. The use of both visual censuses and fish traps to assess reef fish assemblages may provide an objective way of repeatedly censusing reefs for monitoring purposes, especially where differences among reefs and regions are important.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Rosales ◽  
Eileen Uribe-Querol

One hundred years have passed since the death of Élie Metchnikoff (1845–1916). He was the first to observe the uptake of particles by cells and realized the importance of this process for the host response to injury and infection. He also was a strong advocate of the role of phagocytosis in cellular immunity, and with this he gave us the basis for our modern understanding of inflammation and the innate and acquired immune responses. Phagocytosis is an elegant but complex process for the ingestion and elimination of pathogens, but it is also important for the elimination of apoptotic cells and hence fundamental for tissue homeostasis. Phagocytosis can be divided into four main steps: (i) recognition of the target particle, (ii) signaling to activate the internalization machinery, (iii) phagosome formation, and (iv) phagolysosome maturation. In recent years, the use of new tools of molecular biology and microscopy has provided new insights into the cellular mechanisms of phagocytosis. In this review, we present a general view of our current knowledge on phagocytosis. We emphasize novel molecular findings, particularly on phagosome formation and maturation, and discuss aspects that remain incompletely understood.


Hydrobiologia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 847 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noémi Menczelesz ◽  
Ildikó Szivák ◽  
Dénes Schmera

Abstract Experimental streams are bounded and partly enclosed lotic units that facilitate the simulation of certain aspects of natural stream ecosystems under controlled conditions. We summarized the current knowledge regarding experimental streams in order to support researchers in designing and undertaking future studies using experimental streams. We observed an increase in the number of such studies since 1975. The geographically uneven distribution of studies suggests that the generalization of findings to global scale may not be straightforward. Our results indicate that macroinvertebrates, fish, and algae are the most frequently studied organisms and that the size of the experimental streams was related to the focal organism group(s) studied. The size of the units decreased over time, while the number of treatments, interpreted as the combination of the levels of factors, increased. These results suggest that biologically complex studies have gradually been replaced by biologically less complex ones. In contrast, the experimental complexity (the number of treatments) and the statistical power (number of replication) increased. Finally, we identified a number of important, but poorly documented pieces of information regarding experimental stream systems and experimental protocols and made recommendations for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1893
Author(s):  
Mahasweta Saha ◽  
Shawn Dove ◽  
Florian Weinberger

Terrestrial plants are known to “garden” the microbiota of their rhizosphere via released metabolites (that can attract beneficial microbes and deter pathogenic microbes). Such a “gardening” capacity is also known to be dynamic in plants. Although microbial “gardening” has been recently demonstrated for seaweeds, we do not know whether this capacity is a dynamic property in any aquatic flora like in terrestrial plants. Here, we tested the dynamic microbial “gardening” capacity of seaweeds using the model invasive red seaweed Agarophyton vermiculophyllum. Following an initial extraction of surface-associated metabolites (immediately after field collection), we conducted a long-term mesocosm experiment for 5 months to test the effect of two different salinities (low = 8.5 and medium = 16.5) on the microbial “gardening” capacity of the alga over time. We tested “gardening” capacity of A. vermiculophyllum originating from two different salinity levels (after 5 months treatments) in settlement assays against three disease causing pathogenic bacteria and seven protective bacteria. We also compared the capacity of the alga with field-collected samples. Abiotic factors like low salinity significantly increased the capacity of the alga to deter colonization by pathogenic bacteria while medium salinity significantly decreased the capacity of the alga over time when compared to field-collected samples. However, capacity to attract beneficial bacteria significantly decreased at both tested salinity levels when compared to field-collected samples. Dynamic microbial “gardening” capacity of a seaweed to attract beneficial bacteria and deter pathogenic bacteria is demonstrated for the first time. Such a dynamic capacity as found in the current study could also be applicable to other aquatic host–microbe interactions. Our results may provide an attractive direction of research towards manipulation of salinity and other abiotic factors leading to better defended A. vermiculophyllum towards pathogenic bacteria thereby enhancing sustained production of healthy A. vermiculophyllum in farms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowan Gaffney ◽  
Lauren Porensky ◽  
Feng Gao ◽  
J. Irisarri ◽  
Martín Durante ◽  
...  

Monitoring of aboveground net primary production (ANPP) is critical for effective management of rangeland ecosystems but is problematic due to the vast extent of rangelands globally, and the high costs of ground-based measurements. Remote sensing of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) can be used to predict ANPP, potentially offering an alternative means of quantifying ANPP at both high temporal and spatial resolution across broad spatial extents. The relationship between ANPP and APAR has often been quantified based on either spatial variation across a broad region or temporal variation at a location over time, but rarely both. Here we assess: (i) if the relationship between ANPP and APAR is consistent when evaluated across time and space; (ii) potential factors driving differences between temporal versus spatial models, and (iii) the magnitude of potential errors relating to space for time transformations in quantifying productivity. Using two complimentary ANPP datasets and remotely sensed data derived from MODIS and a Landsat/MODIS fusion data product, we find that slopes of spatial models are generally greater than slopes of temporal models. The abundance of plant species with different structural attributes, specifically the abundance of C4 shortgrasses with prostrate canopies versus taller, more productive C3 species with more vertically complex canopies, tended to vary more dramatically in space than over time. This difference in spatial versus temporal variation in these key plant functional groups appears to be the primary driver of differences in slopes among regression models. While the individual models revealed strong relationships between ANPP to APAR, the use of temporal models to predict variation in space (or vice versa) can increase error in remotely sensed predictions of ANPP.


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