Multisatellite-Based Feeding Habitat Suitability Modeling of Albacore Tuna in the Southern Atlantic Ocean

Decision strategies in fisheries management are often directed by the geographic distribution and habitat preferences of target species. This study used remote sensing data to identify the optimal feeding habitat of albacore tuna in the Southern Atlantic Ocean (SAO) using an empirical habitat suitability model applying longline fisheries data during 2009–2015. An arithmetic mean model with sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface chlorophyll-a concentration (SSC) was determined to be suitable for defining the albacore habitat in the SAO. The optimal ranges of SST and SSC for the habitat were approximately 16.5 °C–19.5 °C and 0.11–0.33 mg/m3, respectively. The study revealed a considerable positive trend between the suitable habitat area and standardized catch per unit effort (r = 0.97; p < 0.05); due to the west-to-east and northward development of the suitable habitat, albacore schools moved to the northeast of the SAO, thus increasing catch probability in April to August in that region. Overall, the frontal structure of SST and SSC plays an essential role in the formation of potential albacore habitats in the SAO. Our findings could contribute to the establishment of regional ecosystem-based fisheries management in the SAO.

Geology, Soils, and Vegetation

What is the geological history of Amazonia? The supercontinent Gondwana began breaking up approximately 180 million years ago. South America and Africa started to drift apart about 40 million years after this as the southern Atlantic Ocean formed between them. A highland arose on the eastern edge of South America,...

Southern high-latitude warmth during the Jurassic–Cretaceous: New evidence from clumped isotope thermometry

In order to understand the climate dynamics of the Mesozoic greenhouse world, it is vital to determine paleotemperatures from higher latitudes. For the Jurassic and Cretaceous climate, there are significant discrepancies between different proxies and between proxy data and climate models. We determined paleotemperatures from Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous belemnites using the carbonate clumped isotope paleothermometer and compared these values to temperatures derived from TEX86 and other proxies. From our analyses, we infer an average temperature of ∼25 °C for the upper part of the water column of the southern Atlantic Ocean. Our data imply that for mid- to high latitudes, climate models underestimate marine temperatures by >5 °C and, therefore, the amount of warming that would accompany an increase in atmospheric CO2 of more than 4× pre-industrial levels, as is projected for the near future.

Angusticopula rowlingiana, a new melosiroid diatom (Bacillariophyta) from Ascension Island (South Atlantic Ocean)

During a diatom survey of some samples from Ascension Island, a remote island located in the southern Atlantic Ocean, an unknown melosiroid diatom species was studied using both light and scanning electron microscopy. It proved to be a new species described as Angusticopula rowlingiana sp. nov. and characterized by a large number of narrow copulae in the girdle, a marginal ring of small granules, very small pores covering the entire valve face and occasionally having internal valves. The new species is compared with all Angusticopula species known worldwide and with several Melosira species showing a similar combination of characters. Short notes on its ecology are included.