Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Environment

The emergence of the new coronavirus resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic, which led several countries to adopt restrictive measures, such as the lockdown. As a consequence, several changes were observed in social, commercial, industrial and environmental dynamics. Thus, the present study aimed to make a brief review of some of the main effects of the Pandemic on the environment, in different parts of the world, gathering this information in a single document. To this end, a qualitative method was adopted, in which bibliographical surveys from scientific articles were carried out, as well from articles, news and reports from reliable sources. According to the sources consulted, the impacts observed in the air were mostly positive, resulting in the reduction of the concentrations of most of the atmospheric contaminants. With regard to water resources, positive effects were detected, such as the improvement in water quality in several places in the world, as well as negative effects, portrayed in the increase of the insertion of new aquatic contaminants, of difficult synthesis, in addition to the increase of residues, harmful to the marine fauna. The increase in the volume of waste, due to the new consumption habits imposed by the Pandemic, has also shown to influence soil properties. Finally, it is possible to conclude that the health crisis is linked to the cultural habits of a society that should seek to establish more harmonious relationships with the environment.

Gut content metabarcoding reveals potential importance of fisheries discards consumption in marine fauna

Fisheries discards have become a source of concern for the perennation of marine resources. To reduce discards, the European Union adopted a Landing Obligation under the reform of its Common Fisheries Policy. However, food web consequences of reducing discards remain uncertain since their degree and pathway of reintegration are understudied. We used multi-marker DNA metabarcoding of gut contents and an ecological network approach to quantify marine fauna reliance on discarded fish and functional importance of discard consumers in coastal fishing grounds. We show that potential discard consumption is widespread across fish and invertebrates, but particularly important for decapods which were also pinpointed as functionally important. Potential discard consumption may represent up to 66% of all interactions involving fish prey in the reconstructed network. We highlight that discard reliance may be more important than previously assessed in some fishing areas and support functionally important taxa. While reducing discarding remains a conservation priority, it is crucial to understand discards reintegration in marine food webs to anticipate changes in the context of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management.

Geologic controls on phytoplankton elemental composition

Planktonic organic matter forms the base of the marine food web, and its nutrient content (C:N:Porg) governs material and energy fluxes in the ocean. Over Earth history, C:N:Porg had a crucial role in marine metazoan evolution and global biogeochemical dynamics, but the geologic history of C:N:Porg is unknown, and it is often regarded constant at the “Redfield” ratio of ∼106:16:1. We calculated C:N:Porg through Phanerozoic time by including nutrient- and temperature-dependent C:N:Porg parameterizations in a model of the long-timescale biogeochemical cycles. We infer a decrease from high Paleozoic C:Porg and N:Porg to present-day ratios, which stems from a decrease in the global average temperature and an increase in seawater phosphate availability. These changes in the phytoplankton’s growth environment were driven by various Phanerozoic events: specifically, the middle to late Paleozoic expansion of land plants and the Triassic breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, which increased continental weatherability and the fluxes of weathering-derived phosphate to the oceans. The resulting increase in the nutrient content of planktonic organic matter likely impacted the evolution of marine fauna and global biogeochemistry.

Geologic controls on phytoplankton elemental composition

Planktonic organic matter forms the base of the marine food web, and its nutrient content (C:N:Porg) governs material and energy fluxes in the ocean. Over Earth history, C:N:Porg had a crucial role in marine metazoan evolution and global biogeochemical dynamics, but the geologic history of C:N:Porg is unknown, and it is often regarded constant at the “Redfield” ratio of ∼106:16:1. We calculated C:N:Porg through Phanerozoic time by including nutrient- and temperature-dependent C:N:Porg parameterizations in a model of the long-timescale biogeochemical cycles. We infer a decrease from high Paleozoic C:Porg and N:Porg to present-day ratios, which stems from a decrease in the global average temperature and an increase in seawater phosphate availability. These changes in the phytoplankton’s growth environment were driven by various Phanerozoic events: specifically, the middle to late Paleozoic expansion of land plants and the Triassic breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, which increased continental weatherability and the fluxes of weathering-derived phosphate to the oceans. The resulting increase in the nutrient content of planktonic organic matter likely impacted the evolution of marine fauna and global biogeochemistry.

Methane seeps as refugia during ash falls in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America

Methane seeps host rich biotic communities, forming patchy yet highly productive ecosystems across the global ocean. Persistent hydrocarbon emissions fuel chemosynthetic food webs at seeps. Methane seeps were abundant in the Western Interior Seaway of North America during the Late Cretaceous. This area also experienced intermittent ash falls, which negatively impacted the marine fauna. We propose that methane seeps acted as refugia during these environmental perturbations. We report a laterally continuous bentonite within the upper Campanian Baculites compressus Zone of the Pierre Shale in southwestern South Dakota (USA) that fortuitously cuts across a methane seep deposit. We compare the macroinvertebrate record below and above the bentonite at seep and non-seep sites. Our results reveal that the paleocommunity (measured by abundance and diversity) was largely unaffected by the ash fall at the seep site, whereas it was significantly altered at the non-seep site. Thus, methane seeps in the Western Interior Seaway may have provided refuges or served as oases in the aftermath of severe environmental perturbations.

A Novel, Benchmark-Centered, Eco-Impact Rating System for Sunscreens and Sunscreen Formulation Design

Ultraviolet (UV) filter compounds are the key constituents in sunscreens that protect human skin from detrimental solar radiation. Some of these products have attracted public attention due to claims of their potential negative impact on the environment, in particular marine fauna and flora. At present, consumers who want to make an eco-conscious decision cannot find suitable product details and need to rely on fragmented information or complex scientific literature. The same is true for sunscreen developers, typically formulation chemists, who at present can only work with black- and whitelists which recommend or omit compounds. The ecological impact evaluation system proposed in this publication makes it easier to choose UV filters. Selection is based intrinsically on specialized knowledge which is built on environmental safety data. By embedding this in an existing in-silico sunscreen design system, new products can be created during the project’s design phase without time and cost intensive investigations. In contrast to currently available methods, the proposed tool includes comparison with a virtual market benchmark so users can determine whether a newly developed product will be an improvement on the state of the art in terms of environmental compatibility. The level of improvement can be displayed as a logo which has been designed to be immediately understandable to consumers. The system can be re-adjusted in regular time frames, depending on market development, to motivate and drive the sunscreen industry towards more eco-compatible products.

Pathoanatomical findings of a green turtle (Chelonia mydas) victim of collision with a motorboat

In this paper we report the trauma suffered by a green turtle (Chelonia mydas), caused by a collision with a motorboat, and describe the case ante and post-mortem. An adult female green turtle was rescued alive on December 2, 2016 at Ponta Negra beach, municipality of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The rescued animal was sent to the Marine Fauna Rehabilitation Center (PCCB-UERN), municipality of Areia Branca (RN), in Brazil. Physical examination revealed an excellent body score, noisy breathing, moderate dehydration, absence of hind limb and cloacal reflexes when stimulated by pressure, and two traumatic injuries characteristic of a collision with a motorboat. After three days of supportive treatment, the animal died and was immediately sent for necropsy. The animal had a complete fracture of the vertebral bodies (dorsal elements D9 and D10) and spinal cord section. The entire gastrointestinal tract had food content, in addition to sharp injuries in the colon caused by the bone fragments of the fractured carapace. The lungs were congested, hemorrhagic with frothy and bloody secretion, and interstitial bronchiole fibrosis. There was also present some fibrin and a large number of leukocyte cells, consisting mainly of macrophages. The liver was enlarged, with rounded edges and thickening of the capsule, multifocal areas of hepatocellular necrosis, and dissociation of the hepatocyte cords. The collision resulted in the exposure of the coelomic cavity and spinal cord, causing the animal intense pain, paralysis of the hind limbs and cloaca, septicemia, and consequently, death.

Quantifying the Response of an Estuarine Nekton Community to Coastal Wetland Habitat Restoration

Globally coastal habitats are experiencing degradation and threatening the production of critical ecosystem services such as shoreline stabilization, water filtration, and nursery grounds for marine fauna. To combat the loss of these ecosystem services, resource managers are actively restoring coastal habitats. This study compares samples collected from non-restored sites, sites restored in 2011, and sites that underwent restoration in 2019. Restoration sites are impacted wetlands with high elevation mounds that were leveled to increase the areal extent of intertidal habitats, enabling the recruitment of intertidal flora and fauna. Fyke nets were used to sample nekton within the upper intertidal zone. To quantify restoration success, nekton abundance, biomass, diversity, and indicator species were quantified. Sites restored in 2011 had a greater abundance compared to non-restored sites. Common snook, clown gobies, silversides, juvenile mullet, and Gulf killifishes were indicator species at successfully restored sites, while salinity, site type, and Secchi depth played important roles in predicting abundance and diversity. These findings are consistent with recent studies suggesting it can take years to see quantifiable differences in nekton communities following habitat restoration. Additionally, this work provides new insight regarding the benefits of restoring coastal wetland elevation to maximize intertidal habitat, thereby positively impacting nekton communities.

Development of a Datalogger for Submarine Glider: Integration of Fault-Tolerant Software Layers

Submarine gliders are specialized systems used in applications such as environmental monitoring of marine fauna, in the oil industry, among others. The glider launch and capture is a costly process that requires substantial technological and human resources, so the orderly and error-free storage of data is of fundamental importance due to the subsequent analysis. The amount of information being obtained from the seabed is increasing, this leads to the need to develop robust and low-cost ad-hocsystems for this type of application. The challenge is the integration of the different software layers in the storage system because the monitored variables must be ordered according to different glider operations such as calibration data update and navigation. Additionally, to avoid data corruption in the memory chip, error control coding must be used. The goal of this paper is to present a novel design of different layers of software integrated into a datalogger: reception, error control, and storage logic for the different glider operations. The design of the datalogger is based on a NAND flash memory chip and an MSP430 microcontroller. To correct bit-flipping errors, a BCH code that corrects 4 errors for every 255 bits is implemented into the microcontroller. The design and evaluation are performed for different glider operations, and for different lengths and correction capabilities of the BCH module. A test to calculate the storage time has been carried out. This test shows that in the case of 256 bytes per sample, at 30 samples per minute, and 1 GB of storage capacity, it is possible to collect data from the glider sensors for 84 days. The results obtained show that our device is a useful option for storing underwater sensor data due to its real-time storage, power consumption, small size, easy integration, and its reliability, where the bit error rate BER is of 2.4 ×10−11.

Nephtyidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the Sea of Marmara and Black Sea, with descriptions of two new species

The present paper deals with the diversity of nephtyid polychaetes (Nephtyidae) from the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Three species belonging to two genera (Micronephthys and Nephtys) were found in the Black Sea (coast of Turkey) and six species belonging to three genera (Inermonephtys, Micronephthys and Nephtys) were found in the Sea of Marmara. The material includes two species new to science, Inermonephtys turcica n. sp. and Nephtys sinopensis n. sp., and a species record (Nephtys kersivalensis McIntosh, 1908) new to the Sea of Marmara’s marine fauna. Nephtys sinopensis n. sp. is mainly characterized by having 1–4 geniculate chaetae in the postacicular position of the parapodia; digitiform antennae, palps, and ventral cirri at chaetiger 1 with swollen tips; small and cirriform branchiae present from chaetiger 4 to the end of the body; poorly developed parapodial prechaetal lamellae in median and posterior chaetigers and long ventral cirri along the body. Inermonephtys turcica n. sp. is mainly characterized by having cushion-like palps with digitiform tips; well developed neuropodial postchaetal lamellae; barred chaetae in preacicular position of the anterior and median parapodia; and branchiae first appearing between chaetiger 3 and 13 (depending on body size).