Article
Ecology
Carlos Lozano Fondon, Marco Scotti, Michele Innangi, Cristina Bondavalli, Anna De Marco, Amalia Virzo De Santo, Antonietta Fioretto, Cristina Menta, Antonio Bodini
Summary: Forest soils are home to diverse organisms that play a crucial role in processing organic matter and sustaining soil ecosystem functioning. This study investigates how soil food webs shape carbon flows and highlights the importance of indirect interactions and generalist feeding habits in carbon transfer efficiency and network resilience. Furthermore, the findings suggest that food web structure rather than environmental variability is the main factor affecting carbon flows in beech forests.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dakeishla M. Diaz-Morales, Maral Khosravi, Daniel S. Grabner, Nazmun Nahar, Claudia Bommarito, Martin Wahl, Bernd Sures
Summary: This study examined the ability of the trematode Podocotyle atomon to modulate the feeding and stress response of Gammarus locusta towards temperature. The results highlight the relevance of parasites and host sex in organismal homeostasis.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Gidon Winters, Chiara Conte, Pedro Beca-Carretero, Hung Manh Nguyen, Luciana Migliore, Martina Mulas, Gil Rilov, Tamar Guy-Haim, Maria J. Gonzalez, Isabel Medina, Dar Golomb, Neta Baharier, Moran Kaminer, Kimani Kitson-Walters
Summary: This study investigated the main drivers behind the successful invasiveness of the seagrass Halophila stipulacea in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. It found that the invasive populations had superior growth traits such as higher biomass, greater vegetation cover, and faster growth rates compared to native populations. A mesocosm experiment further confirmed these findings, showing that invasive H. stipulacea grew faster and produced more shoots than native plants. The study highlights the importance of long-term monitoring to understand the future spread and impacts of this invasive species.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Jessica Guerchon, Arseniy R. Morov, Aviyam Tagar, Maxim Rubin-Blum, Yaron Tikochinski, Igal Berenshtein, Gil Rilov, Nir Stern
Summary: Most marine fish species, especially during their early life stages, inhabit the upper water layers and have a significant impact on neuston communities. However, knowledge about the composition of fish eggs and larvae, particularly in oligotrophic seas, is limited. Through DNA-based methods, we discovered the presence of 137 fish species in neuston communities, providing a more diverse understanding of fish diversity in the marine environment.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dakeishla M. Diaz-Morales, Claudia Bommarito, Jeffrey Knol, Daniel S. Grabner, Simona Noe, Gil Rilov, Martin Wahl, Tamar Guy-Haim, Bernd Sures
Summary: Marine bioinvasions are a growing concern due to their potential ecological and economic implications. The invasion of Gracilaria vermiculophylla in the Baltic Sea has led to competition with the native alga Fucus vesiculosus. This study investigated the effects of parasites and temperature on feeding behavior and biochemical condition of the gastropod Littorina littorea.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maral Khosravi, Dakeishla M. Diaz-Morales, David W. Thieltges, Martin Wahl, Jahangir Vajedsamiei
Summary: Global warming can impact the transmission of infectious diseases by affecting the release of cercarial stages from their hosts in trematode parasites. However, we have limited knowledge about the emergence patterns of cercariae from high temperature environments. This study investigated the effect of temperature on cercarial emergence of two trematode species from mud snails in the Persian Gulf, finding that they have the warmest recorded thermal optima among aquatic trematodes.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Biology
Athanasios Nikolaou, Konstantinos Tsirintanis, Gil Rilov, Stelios Katsanevakis
Summary: This study examines the distribution and status of macroalgal communities in the Mediterranean Sea. Invasive herbivorous fish are pushing canopy algae towards shallow waters in the South Aegean and Levantine Sea, while native sea urchins have become rare. In the North Aegean, native sea urchins still exert grazing pressure on macroalgal forests.
Article
Biology
Amalia Rosner, Loriano Ballarin, Stephanie Barnay-Verdier, Ilya Borisenko, Laura Drago, Damjana Drobne, Maria Concetta Eliso, Zoya Harbuzov, Annalisa Grimaldi, Tamar Guy-Haim, Arzu Karahan, Iseult Lynch, Maria Giulia Lionetto, Pedro Martinez, Kahina Mehennaoui, Elif Oruc Ozcan, Annalisa Pinsino, Guy Paz, Baruch Rinkevich, Antonietta Spagnuolo, Michela Sugni, Sebastien Cambier
Summary: Aquatic invertebrates are important for (eco)toxicological assessments due to their ethical, cost-effective, and repeatable testing options. However, current standardized protocols mainly focus on a limited number of aquatic invertebrate species, limiting the scope of basic ecotoxicological studies. This review emphasizes the need for a broader taxonomic approach and the use of diverse scientific techniques to comprehensively assess the impact of chemicals in aquatic environments.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Gil Rilov, Joao Canning-Clode, Tamar Guy-Haim
Summary: Invasive species, particularly those known as 'ecosystem engineers', significantly alter the new environment in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and their impacts can be both positive and negative. This review examines the various types of impacts that invasive ecosystem engineers have in different ecological realms, and highlights the importance of understanding their effects on ecosystem services and their potential for restoring functions in the face of climate change.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Limnology
Claudia Bommarito, Dakeishla M. M. Diaz-Morales, Tamar Guy-Haim, Simona Noe, Jules Delasalle, Bjorn Buchholz, Maral Khosravi, Gil Rilov, Bernd Sures, Martin Wahl
Summary: Global warming, bioinvasions, and parasitism have significant impacts on single-species performances and species interactions in marine ecosystems. Therefore, a multi-stressor approach is needed to better understand the effects of these factors. This study examined the effects of warming and parasitism on a benthic community in a mesocosm setting and found that both factors had detrimental effects on the growth and survival of certain species. Additionally, the study showed that parasite development and infection intensity were influenced by temperature. Overall, this research highlights the complex interactions between warming, parasitism, and species dynamics in marine ecosystems.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Michail Ragkousis, Argyro Zenetos, Jamila Ben Souissi, Razy Hoffman, Raouia Ghanem, Ergun Taskin, Mihaela Muresan, Evgeniia Karpova, Elena Slynko, Ertan Dagli, Ana Fortic, Victor Surugiu, Vesna Macic, Domen Trkov, Wafa Rjiba Bahri, Konstantinos Tsiamis, Alfonso A. Ramos-Espla, Slavica Petovic, Jasmine Ferrario, Agnese Marchini, Renato Sconfietti, Izdihar Ammar, Alaa Alo, Dori Edelist, Tatiana Begun, Adrian Teaca, Gokhan Tari, Mehmet Fatih Huseyinoglu, Paraskevi K. Karachle, Aikaterini Dogrammatzi, Giorgos A. Apostolopoulos, Fabio Crocetta, Eleni Kytinou, Markos Digenis, Grigorios Skouradakis, Fiona Tomas, Michel Bariche, Alexandros Kaminas, Kassiani Konida, Alan Deidun, Alessio Marrone, Simonetta Fraschetti, Vesselina Mihneva, Carlo Nike Bianchi, Carla Morri, Vasilis Gerovasileiou, Lovrenc Lipej, Maria Sini, Luisa Mangialajo, Maria Zotou, Marius Skolka, Ernesto Azzurro, Adriana Vella, Thanos Dailianis, Panos Grigoriou, Carlos Jimenez, Konstantinos Tsirintanis, Georgios Oikonomidis, Emanuele Mancini, Orestis Papadakis, Vincenzo Di Martino, Giorgos Chatzigeorgiou, Mohamed Mourad Ben Amor, Emmanouela Vernadou, Yaprak Arda, Vasileios Minasidis, Annalisa Azzola, Louis Hadjioannou, Monica Montefalcone, Yacopo Baldacchino, Bessy Stancanelli, Andrea Bonifazi, Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi, Sonia Smeraldo, Julian Evans, Gerasimos Kondylatos, Manuela Falautano, Luca Castriota, Aggelos Lamprou, Jamila Rizgalla, Borut Mavric, Evangelos Papadimitriou, Diego K. Kersting, Patrick J. Schembri, Faten Khamassi, Athanasios Nikolaou, Enric Ballesteros, Charalampos Dimitriadis, Maria Garcia, Athanasios Anastasiadis, Stefanos Kalogirou, Melina Nalmpanti, Maria Altamirano, Daniele Grech, Dimitrios Mavrouleas, Noel Vella, Sandra Agius Darmanin, Branko Dragicevic, Dimitris Poursanidis, Alexandros Tsatiris, Maria Corsini-Foka, Martina Orlando-Bonaca, Gianni Insacco, Alexandros Tsalapatis, Danilo Scannella, Francesco Tiralongo, Jana Verdura, Sergio Vitale, Michail-Aggelos Valsamidis, Hocein Bazairi, Anna Maria Mannino, Riccardo Virgili, Fabio Collepardo Coccia, Radhouan El Zrelli, Savvas Nikolidakis, Lotfi Jilani Rabaoui, Sercan Yapici, Jeanne Zaouali, Bruno Zava, Neophytos Agrotis, Murat Bilecenoglu, Michele Luca Cinar, Manos L. Moraitis, Paolo G. Albano, Nassir Kaddouri, Ioanna Kosma, Fabio Falsone, Valentina Fossati, Michele Luca Geraci, Leon Lojze Zamuda, Francesco Paolo Mancuso, Antonis Petrou, Vasilis Resaikos, Ilker Aydin, Ioannis E. Batjakas, Arthur R. Bos, Najib El Ouamari, Giovanni Giallongo, Thodoros E. Kampouris, Khadija Ounifi-Ben Amor, Alper Dogan, Jakov Dulcic, Emine Sukran Okudan, Gil Rilov, Antonietta Rosso, Laura Royo, Mohamed Selfati, Martina Gaglioti, Sylvaine Giakoumi, Vasiliki Kousteni, Dragos Micu, Mircea Nicoara, Sotiris Orfanidis, Magdalene Papatheodoulou, Jonathan Tempesti, Maria Triantaphyllou, Theodora Tsourou, Ferhat Yalgin, Emanuel Baltag, Hasan Cerim, Halit Filiz, Constantinos G. Georgiadis, Paschalis Papadamakis, Dimitra Lida Rammou, Manuela Diana Samargiu, Francesco Sciuto, Mauro Sinopoli, Ali Turker, Antonia Chiarore, Laura Tamburello, Sahar Karray, Bilel Hassen, Stelios Katsanevakis
Summary: In order to enhance the understanding of the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collaborative effort involving 173 marine scientists was conducted. A dataset containing 12,649 records from 23 countries was collected and harmonized, providing valuable information to the scientific community. The most abundant taxonomic groups were Chordata, Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida, and the most numerous species included Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, and Caulerpa cylindracea.
BIOINVASIONS RECORDS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Damian L. Arevalo-Martinez, Amir Haroon, Hermann W. Bange, Ercan Erkul, Marion Jegen, Nils Moosdorf, Jens Schneider von Deimling, Christian Berndt, Michael Ernst Boettcher, Jasper Hoffmann, Volker Liebetrau, Ulf Mallast, Gudrun Massmann, Aaron Micallef, Holly A. Michael, Hendrik Paasche, Wolfgang Rabbel, Isaac Santos, Jan Scholten, Katrin Schwalenberg, Beata Szymczycha, Ariel T. Thomas, Joonas J. Virtasalo, Hannelore Waska, Bradley A. Weymer
Summary: For thousands of years, humans have been attracted to coastlines for their resource potential and as geopolitical centers. The supply and demand of potable water are crucial for water security in coastal communities, but the interaction between freshwater and saltwater in coastal settings is complicated by natural and human-driven environmental changes. Understanding groundwater fluxes across the land-sea continuum is important for (bio)geochemical budgets and the potential use of offshore freshened groundwater as a resource. Assessing land-ocean connectivity through groundwater requires a multidisciplinary approach and is relevant for climate change, pollution, and sustainable development goals.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tania L. Maxwell, Andre S. Rovai, Maria Fernanda Adame, Janine B. Adams, Jose Alvarez-Rogel, William E. N. Austin, Kim Beasy, Francesco Boscutti, Michael E. Boettcher, Tjeerd J. Bouma, Richard H. Bulmer, Annette Burden, Shannon A. Burke, Saritta Camacho, Doongar R. Chaudhary, Gail L. Chmura, Margareth Copertino, Grace M. Cott, Christopher Craft, John Day, Carmen B. de los Santos, Lionel Denis, Weixin Ding, Joanna C. Ellison, Carolyn J. Ewers Lewis, Luise Giani, Maria Gispert, Swanne Gontharet, Jose A. Gonzalez-Perez, M. Nazaret Gonzalez-Alcaraz, Connor Gorham, Anna Elizabeth L. Graversen, Anthony Grey, Roberta Guerra, Qiang He, James R. Holmquist, Alice R. Jones, Jose A. Juanes, Brian P. Kelleher, Karen E. Kohfeld, Dorte Krause-Jensen, Anna Lafratta, Paul S. Lavery, Edward A. Laws, Carmen Leiva-Duenas, Pei Sun Loh, Catherine E. Lovelock, Carolyn J. Lundquist, Peter Macreadie, Ines Mazarrasa, J. Patrick Megonigal, Joao M. Neto, Juliana Nogueira, Michael J. Osland, Jordi F. Pages, Nipuni Perera, Eva-Maria Pfeiffer, Thomas Pollmann, Jacqueline L. Raw, Maria Recio, Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernandez, Sophie K. Russell, John M. Rybczyk, Marek Sammul, Christian Sanders, Rui Santos, Oscar Serrano, Matthias Siewert, Craig Smeaton, Zhaoliang Song, Carmen Trasar-Cepeda, Robert R. Twilley, Marijn Van de Broek, Stefano Vitti, Livia Vittori Antisari, Baptiste Voltz, Christy N. Wails, Raymond D. Ward, Melissa Ward, Jaxine Wolfe, Renmin Yang, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Emily Landis, Lindsey Smart, Mark Spalding, Thomas A. Worthington
Summary: Tidal marshes are significant carbon reservoirs, and a global dataset of soil organic carbon provides valuable information for researchers and policy-makers. The dataset includes geographic locations, soil depths, and organic carbon data, allowing for estimation of organic carbon stocks in tidal marsh soils.