Abstract Posidonia oceanica , a seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean forms extended and extremely persistent meadows. It is a clonal plant with an apparently irregular pattern of flowering events. An extensive bibliographic review allowed the reconstruction of past flowering events of this species around the Mediterranean, with a high degree of confidence for the last 30 years. The data series on annual flowering prevalence (FP, flowering records per total records) and flowering intensity (FI, fraction of flowering shoots) produced have been compared with four series on Sea Surface annual Temperature maxima (SST max ) obtained for the NW Mediterranean (averaged from the local data series of l'Estartit and Villefranche: 1957–2005) and for the Eastern, Western basin and the whole Mediterranean sea (extracted from NCEP Reynolds interpolated SST maps: 1982–2005). Significant warming trends are detected in the Mediterranean SST max series, at a rate of (mean+SE) 0.04±0.01°C yr −1 ( R 2 =0.24, P <0.01, N =24 years), in the Eastern basin series (0.06±0.01°C yr −1 , R 2 =0.43, P <0.001, N =24 years) and in the long SST max series of the NW Mediterranean (0.02±0.01 C yr −1 , R 2 =0.12, P <0.02, N =49 years). The magnitudes of the SST max anomalies around the absolute warming trend do not increase with time in any SST max series. Peaks of FP and FI in the Mediterranean seem to occur each 9–11 years, and coincide with peaks of annual SST max . Annual FP and FI increase with the residuals of annual SST max warming trend in all Mediterranean basins (FP MED : R 2 =0.27, P <0.01, N =23; FP NW : R 2 =0.34, P <0.01, N =31; FP E : R 2 =0.20; P <0.10, N =23). An outstanding event of P. oceanica flowering across the Mediterranean has been registered in Autumn 2003; 1 month after the highest annual SST max recorded in the series. The hypothesis of flowering induction by thermal stress as the possible cause of this relationship is discussed, as well as the potential use of P. oceanica flowering record as early indicator of biological change induced by global sea warming in Mediterranean marine ecosystems.
Community respiration (R) rates are scaled as the two-thirds power of the gross primary production (P) rates of aquatic ecosystems, indicating that the role of aquatic biota as carbon dioxide sources or sinks depends on its productivity. Unproductive aquatic ecosystems support a disproportionately higher respiration rate than that of productive aquatic ecosystems, tend to be heterotrophic (R > P), and act as carbon dioxide sources. The average P required for aquatic ecosystems to become autotrophic (P > R) is over an order of magnitude greater for marshes than for the open sea. Although four-fifths of the upper ocean is expected to be net heterotrophic, this carbon demand can be balanced by the excess production over the remaining one-fifth of the ocean.
(1994). Environmental factors controlling the life history of Procambarus clarkii (Decapoda, Cambaridae) in a temporary marsh of the Doñana National Park (SW Spain) SIL Proceedings, 1922-2010: Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 2450-2453.
Biologging is a scientific endeavor that studies the environment and animals within it by outfitting the latter with sensors of their dynamics as they roam freely in their natural habitats. As wearable technologies advance for the monitoring of human health, it may be instructive to reflect on the successes and failures of biologging in field biology over the past few decades. Several lessons may be of value. Physiological sensors can "encode" for a wider number of states than the one explicitly targeted, although the limits of this are debatable. The combination of orthogonal sensors turns out to be critical to delivering a high value data set. Sensor fusion and engineering for longevity are also important for success. This Perspective highlights successful strategies for biologging that hold promise for human health monitoring.
Global Change has been defined as the impact of human activities on the key processes that determine the functioning of the Biosphere. Global Change is a major threat for marine ecosystems and includes climate change as well as other global impacts such as inputs of pollutants, overfishing and coastal sprawl. The Semi-enclosed Arabian Seas, including the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea, have supported human livelihoods in the Arabian Peninsula over centuries and continue to do so, but are also threatened by Global Change. These threats are particularly severe as Semi-enclosed Arabian Seas already present rather extreme conditions, in terms of temperature, salinity and oxygen concentration. The vulnerability of the unique marine ecosystems of the Semi-enclosed Arabian Seas to Global Change vectors is largely unknown, but predictions based on first principles suggest that they may be at or near the tipping point for many pressures, such as warming and hypoxia. There is an urgent need to implement international collaborative research programs to accelerate our understanding of the vulnerability of Semi-enclosed Arabian Seas to Global Change vectors in order to inform conservation and management plans to ensure these Seas continue to support the livelihoods and well-being of the Arab nations.
Poster: ECR 2016 / C-2165 / Optimisation of DBT using parallel computing aiming to reduce patient dose by: P. R. T. Ferreira 1, C. Duarte1, N. Oliveira1, L. Janeiro1, A. Silva1, M. L. Orvalho1, P. Medeiros2, N. Matela1; 1Lisbon/PT, 2Caparica/PT
