Review
Environmental Sciences
Adonis S. Floren, Ken-ichi Hayashizaki, Sumaitt Putchakarn, Piyalap Tuntiprapas, Anchana Prathep
Summary: This study reviews the association between tropical seagrasses and sea cucumbers, emphasizing the importance of understanding the seagrass decomposition process for the diet of sea cucumbers. A conceptual model was developed to illustrate the factors influencing the relationship between seagrass meadows and sea cucumbers.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Maria Gabriela Junqueira, Adriano Sanches Melo, Fabiana Schneck
Summary: Habitat type and grazing are important factors affecting benthic diatom communities. The strength of grazing may depend on the habitat complexity at fine and meso scales. The interaction between grazers and physical conditions is important in shaping the community structure of diatom communities.
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Guy Amit, Amir Bashan
Summary: Keystone taxa in ecological communities are native taxa that play an especially important role in the stability of their ecosystem. This study introduces a novel method for detecting keystones in microbial communities by comparing data with and without specific species.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Cinzia Corinaldesi, Silvia Bianchelli, Marco Candela, Antonio Dell'Anno, Cristina Gambi, Eugenio Rastelli, Stefano Varrella, Roberto Danovaro
Summary: Microorganisms play a crucial role in interacting with biological components and contribute to the efficiency of marine food webs and the adaptation of organisms to climate change. They are essential for the health of marine species, productive ecosystems, and the global biosphere. However, alterations in microbiomes can have negative consequences on species' health and ecosystem functioning. The potential of microbiomes for restoring degraded habitats is still largely unexplored.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Anabelle Dece A. Espadero, Yohei Nakamura, Wilfredo H. Uy, Masahiro Horinouchi
Summary: Tropical intertidal seagrass beds are important foraging grounds for multiple fish species and provide a permanent habitat for resident species. Recognizing the importance of these habitats is crucial for the management and protection of coastal fish biodiversity and fishery resources.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Quy Cao, Xinxin Sun, Karun Rajesh, Naga Chalasani, Kayla Gelow, Barry Katz, Vijay H. Shah, Arun J. Sanyal, Ekaterina Smirnova
Summary: Filtering methods can reduce the complexity of microbiome data, alleviate technical variability between labs, and preserve the similarity between samples. It also retains important taxa in disease studies, contributing to classification accuracy and disease classification.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Prakas Santoso, Fakhrizal Setiawan, Beginer Subhan, Dondy Arafat, Dietriech G. Bengen, Lalu M. Iqbal Sani, Austin T. Humphries, Hawis Madduppa
Summary: The structural complexity of coral reef habitat plays a critical role in maintaining abundant and diverse reef fish communities. This study found a strong correlation between rugosity, a measure of habitat complexity, and species richness and abundance of fish in marine reserves around Lombok Island in Indonesia.
ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Rob Critchlow, Charles A. Cunningham, Humphrey Q. P. Crick, Nicholas A. Macgregor, Michael D. Morecroft, James W. Pearce-Higgins, Tom H. Oliver, Matthew J. Carroll, Colin M. Beale
Summary: In the past, protected area networks were often developed based on a few indicator species or restricted areas, lacking consideration of global climate change. The application of systematic conservation planning in Great Britain using a wide taxonomic coverage showed that prioritization based on indicator taxa is still useful for conservation planning, despite differences in spatial species richness patterns. Increasing the number of protected areas could have a disproportionate positive effect on species conservation.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Review
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Cristiano Schetini de Azevedo, Cynthia Fernandes Cipreste, Cristiane Schilbach Pizzutto, Robert John Young
Summary: Habitat complexity is crucial for the welfare of captive animals, particularly in zoos. Greater enclosure complexity leads to a wider range of behaviors and improved physiological wellbeing. However, the benefits of habitat complexity should be specific to each species, as not all species would benefit. Therefore, it is important to provide and regularly evaluate habitat complexity for zoo animals. Complexity can change over time and space. This paper discusses how habitat complexity positively affects animal welfare and offers ideas on introducing habitat complexity and functional structures for captive animals.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Neus Sanmarti, Yaiza Ontoria, Aurora M. Ricart, Rohan Arthur, Teresa Alcoverro, Marta Perez, Javier Romero
Summary: This study describes a three-species assemblage consisting of seagrass, pen shell, and sea urchin and investigates the mechanisms allowing its persistence through field observations and experiments. The sea urchins' reluctance to move far from pen shells limits their impact on seagrass to a local scale. The sparse distribution of pen shells and the plant's resistance mechanisms also contribute to the persistence of this assemblage.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Xiaoyi Xing, Jiale Lv, Yali Zhang, Rubing Qing, Danhong Yin, Xianjun Yang, Lijun Chen, Fei Ni
Summary: Climate change strongly impacts the distribution of soil denitrifying bacterial communities. However, the effect of temperature on the stability of abundant and rare denitrifying biosphere is still unknown. This study found that both abundant and rare denitrifiers respond to temperature, but abundant taxa are more sensitive. Increasing temperature reduces alpha-diversity, increases interaction, and changes the community structure of abundant taxa, while rare taxa are less vulnerable to warming. These results suggest that abundant denitrifiers can be used as key indicators to predict the response strategy of soil microorganisms to global warming.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Joshua S. S. Madin, Mollie Asbury, Nina Schiettekatte, Maria Dornelas, Oscar Pizarro, Jessica Reichert, Damaris Torres-Pulliza
Summary: In their recent synopsis, Loke and Chisholm (Ecology Letters, 25, 2269-2288, 2022) provide an overview of habitat complexity metrics for ecologists and offer some suggestions. However, we disagree with some of their analyses and opinions in this technical note.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cristina Ganuza, Sarah Redlich, Johannes Uhler, Cynthia Tobisch, Sandra Rojas-Botero, Marcell K. Peters, Jie Zhang, Caryl S. Benjamin, Jana Englmeier, Joerg Ewald, Ute Fricke, Maria Haensel, Johannes Kollmann, Rebekka Riebl, Lars Uphus, Joerg Mueller, Ingoif Steffan-Dewenter
Summary: Changes in climate and land use have significant impacts on pollinating insects, affecting their diversity and community composition. Pollinator diversity increases with reduced land use intensity and higher flowering-plant diversity, while higher temperatures lead to greater homogenization of pollinator communities across regions. Our study highlights the importance of management strategies at different scales to mitigate the impacts of climate change on pollinators and their ecosystem services.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eric Post, Christian Pedersen, David A. Watts
Summary: This study investigates the impact of warming and exclusion of large herbivores on 14 tundra taxa, showing that experimental warming reduces commonness across all taxa, while herbivore exclusion has a stronger effect on rare taxa. The findings suggest that commonness itself may be a strong predictor of species' responses to climate change, but large herbivores may mediate such responses in rare taxa.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Li Ma, Wenquan Niu, Guochun Li, Yadan Du, Jun Sun, Qian Zhang, Kadambot H. M. Siddique
Summary: The role of abundant and rare bacterial taxa in maintaining bacterial community stability is controversial. Rare taxa have higher diversity and modularity than abundant taxa. The diversity of rare taxa is negatively correlated with bacterial community differences, while no correlation exists between abundant taxa and community differences. Highlighting the importance of rare species is crucial for maintaining bacterial community stability.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Giada Bargione, Andrea Petetta, Claudio Vasapollo, Massimo Virgili, Alessandro Lucchetti
Summary: The study demonstrates that undersized striped venus clam specimens have a high survival probability when returned to the sea, which can contribute to mitigating the overexploitation of natural populations. The survival rates in both laboratory and field experiments were high and showed no significant differences among different size classes, indicating the potential for sustainable management of clam populations.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Claudia Sbrocca, Marleen De Troch, Valentina Losi, Eleonora Grassi, Maria Balsamo, Federica Semprucci
Summary: In rocky shore systems, sessile macrobenthic assemblages play a significant role as ecosystem engineers for various benthic organisms, affecting the diversity and structure of harpacticoid copepod fauna. The study found that the harpacticoid assemblage structure was mainly influenced by season and depth, indicating the importance of these factors in shaping rocky shore communities.
Article
Fisheries
Andrea Petetta, Bent Herrmann, Massimo Virgili, Giada Bargione, Claudio Vasapollo, Alessandro Lucchetti
Summary: The study assessed the selectivity of a hydraulic dredge on the striped venus clam at different haul durations, finding that 25% of the clams were not size selected by the dredge and providing data on the dredge catch efficiency.
FISHERIES RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Federica Ragazzola, Agnese Marchini, Mario Adani, Andrea Bordone, Alberto Castelli, Gabriella Cerrati, Regina Kolzenburg, Joachim Langeneck, Carlotta di Marzo, Matteo Nannini, Giancarlo Raiteri, Elisa Romanelli, Mar Santos, Claudio Vasapollo, Carlo Pipitone, Chiara Lombardi
Summary: In coastal marine ecosystems, coralline algae form biogenic reefs that impact associated invertebrate communities through diurnal oscillations in photosynthesis, respiration, and calcification. A study on Ellissolandia elongata found that under reduced pH and high temperature conditions, photosynthetic activity increased while the associated fauna were negatively affected, with opportunistic taxa becoming dominant. Local increases in oxygen and pH driven by the algae may provide a buffer for small invertebrates in the algal fronds.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Fisheries
Alessandro Lucchetti, Massimo Virgili, Claudio Vasapollo, Andrea Petetta, Giada Bargione, Daniel Li Veli, Jure Brcic, Antonello Sala
Summary: The bottom trawling fishery in the Mediterranean Sea faces issues of overfishing, with studies showing that current practices often catch immature individuals and species below minimum conservation reference sizes. It is necessary to adopt more sustainable fishing gears to improve catch efficiency and ecological protection.
MEDITERRANEAN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Federica Semprucci, Luca Appolloni, Eleonora Grassi, Luigia Donnarumma, Lucia Cesaroni, Giuseppina Tirimberio, Elena Chianese, Paola Di Donato, Giovanni Fulvio Russo, Maria Balsamo, Roberto Sandulli
Summary: During the XXXIII Antarctic expedition, researchers conducted an investigation in Terra Nova bay and found that the colony of Adelie penguins had a more significant impact on the meiobenthic assemblages compared to the human activities at the Mario Zucchelli Research Station. This suggests that the chronic impact of the penguin colonies may have stronger effects on the meiobenthos than human activities in the area.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Federica Semprucci, Eleonora Grassi, Maria Balsamo
Summary: An alternative approach for assessing changes in nematode community structure was evaluated in five case studies in the Mediterranean Sea. The use of morpho-functional traits proved to be an effective method for reflecting changes in nematode communities, particularly in areas under human pressure. This approach has the potential to expedite the analysis of nematode fauna in biomonitoring programs and can be applied to other meiofaunal organisms, opening up new possibilities in ecological assessment.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Loretta Guidi, Maria Balsamo, Eleonora Grassi, Federica Semprucci, M. Antonio Todaro
Summary: This study observed the frontal and caudal organs as well as spermatozoa in three Macrodasys species, comparing them with previous research. The findings revealed differences in the accessory reproductive organs and the presence of spermatozoa inside the caudal organ, suggesting a more plausible hypothesis about sperm transfer in Macrodasys.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Linda Catani, Eleonora Grassi, Adele Cocozza di Montanara, Loretta Guidi, Roberto Sandulli, Barbara Manachini, Federica Semprucci
Summary: In agriculture, there is a growing interest in reducing the use of chemical plant protection products. Essential oils have emerged as potential alternatives for managing plant diseases in agriculture. A co-occurrence analysis was conducted to identify the commonly used essential oils and their applications in agriculture.
BIOCATALYSIS AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mario Sbrana, Francesco De Carlo, Alessandro Ligas, Andrea Massaro, Claudia Musumeci, Ilaria Rossetti, Marina Sartini, Claudio Vasapollo, Claudio Viva, Paolo Sartor, Carlo Pretti
Summary: This study evaluates the effectiveness of adopting diamond meshes turned by 90 degrees and a selection grid with 2 cm bar spacing on a commercial bottom trawl net in reducing the capture of undersized specimens. The T90 configuration showed no improvement in selectivity compared to the commercial net, while the grid reduced the catch of European hake but also resulted in reduced catches of other species.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Francesca Ferragut-Perello, Claudio Vasapollo, Maria Valls, Maria Teresa Farriols, Enric Massuti, Beatriz Guijarro, Sergi Joher, Marina Bibiloni-Socias, Francesc Ordines
Summary: The Spanish bottom trawl fleet in the Mediterranean uses 40 mm square mesh codends, which have low selectivity and result in high proportions of immature fish in the catches. This study evaluated the selectivity of different net configurations in the hake fishery off the northwest Iberian Peninsula. The results showed that a 52 mm square meshed codend reduced discards and improved selectivity for most commercial species, but would lead to economic losses for target species.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Linda Catani, Barbara Manachini, Eleonora Grassi, Loretta Guidi, Federica Semprucci
Summary: By 2030, the European Commission aims to cut chemical pesticide use and risks in half. Essential oils (EOs) have been studied as potential substitutes for nematicides, which are chemical agents used to control parasitic roundworms in agriculture. However, there is still a lack of information on which EOs have been used on different nematodes and how they have been applied. This study provides an overview of available reports and data, exploring the extent of EO testing on nematodes and identifying the most commonly used EOs and formulations.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elisa Baldrighi, Sarah Pizzini, Elisa Punzo, Angela Santelli, Pierluigi Strafella, Tommaso Scirocco, Elena Manini, Daniele Fattorini, Claudio Vasapollo
Summary: This study assessed the response and patterns of meio-and macrofauna in Ancona Harbor to different environmental conditions. The results showed differences in community structure and diversity between the two benthic size classes, with meiofauna being more sensitive to environmental features and contaminants.
Article
Zoology
C. Froglia, C. Vasapollo, M. Virgili, G. Bargione, A. Petetta, R. De Marco, A. Lucchetti
Summary: Twenty-four individuals of the rarely reported species Albunea carabus were recently discovered in the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy, living in sandy bottoms at depths of 1-6 m in association with commercial bivalves and decapods. The distribution of the species in Italian seas was described based on available records, along with notes on its reproductive biology and autoecology.
EUROPEAN ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Soledad Alvarez, Ignacio Gestoso, Patricio Ramalhosa, Joao Canning-Clode
Summary: The introduction of non-indigenous species poses a threat to coastal biodiversity, with maritime traffic as a primary vector. This study compares the performance of three methods and evaluates their attributes to develop improved strategies for monitoring and mitigating the impact of non-indigenous species.
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Ya-Qin Zhang, Chun-Hui Gong, Xiang-Hua Qi, Wen-Jun Wang, Peng-Tao Cao, Qiang Li, Peng Wang, Yi Yang
Summary: This study investigated the concentrations of heavy metals in marine organisms from Gaogong Island in Lianyungang and evaluated the associated health risks. The results showed significant variations in heavy metal concentrations among different sampling months and marine organisms. However, the assessed health risks from consuming these marine organisms were found to be within acceptable thresholds.
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Bo Yang, Huina Zheng, Zhouping Cui, Hao Sun, Baolin Liao, Ziqiang Xie, Bogui Chen, Jin Zhou, Baohua Xiao
Summary: This study found that coral transplantation on the "chessboard" reef and natural substrate in Dapeng Bay was successful, with corals on the reef showing better growth advantage. Temperature and suspended particulate matter were identified as the main factors affecting the health and growth of transplanted corals.
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2024)
Review
Ecology
Bilal Mghili, Mohamed Ben -Haddad, Ouafae Zerrad, Nelson Rangel-Buitrago, Mustapha Aksissou
Summary: This review critically analyzes the available literature on plastic pollution in Morocco's marine environment. It discusses the abundance, composition, and sources of plastic litter, as well as the impact on the biota and ecosystem services. The review highlights the limited studies conducted and the scarcity of data, particularly regarding the prevalence of microplastics. It also emphasizes the considerable threat plastic litter poses to Moroccan biodiversity.
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Khaled M. Abdelsalam, Mohamed F. Nour Eldeen, Mohamed H. Mona, Fayez A. Shoukr, Mona M. El Gamal
Summary: This research paper investigates the biodiversity of macro-benthic invertebrates collected along the eastern coast of Egypt. The study found a total of 118 taxa, with Mollusca being the most diverse and Arthropoda being the most dominant phylum. The most prevalent species was the stomatopod Erugosquilla massavensis. Eleven species were newly recorded in the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea. It is recommended to establish national monitoring programs to record any new alien species in the study area.
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Haruka Nakano, Maria Belen Alfonso, Suppakan Jandang, Keiri Imai, Hisayuki Arakawa
Summary: This study evaluated the level of microplastic pollution in marine environments around Japan using the pollution load index, polymer risk index, and pollution risk index. The results showed low to moderate pollution levels in each area, but predicted an increase in pollution levels in the future. The study highlights the importance of taking action to prevent additional plastic pollution and the need for continued monitoring of microplastics in the environment.
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2024)
