Publications

Abstract It is fundamentally important for many animal ecologists to quantify the costs of animal activities, although it is not straightforward to do so. The recording of triaxial acceleration by animal‐attached devices has been proposed as a way forward for this, with the specific suggestion that dynamic body acceleration (DBA) be used as a proxy for movement‐based power. Dynamic body acceleration has now been validated frequently, both in the laboratory and in the field, although the literature still shows that some aspects of DBA theory and practice are misunderstood. Here, we examine the theory behind DBA and employ modelling approaches to assess factors that affect the link between DBA and energy expenditure, from the deployment of the tag, through to the calibration of DBA with energy use in laboratory and field settings. Using data from a range of species and movement modes, we illustrate that vectorial and additive DBA metrics are proportional to each other. Either can be used as a proxy for energy and summed to estimate total energy expended over a given period, or divided by time to give a proxy for movement‐related metabolic power. Nonetheless, we highlight how the ability of DBA to predict metabolic rate declines as the contribution of non‐movement‐related factors, such as heat production, increases. Overall, DBA seems to be a substantive proxy for movement‐based power but consideration of other movement‐related metrics, such as the static body acceleration and the rate of change of body pitch and roll, may enable researchers to refine movement‐based metabolic costs, particularly in animals where movement is not characterized by marked changes in body acceleration.

This paper presents a flexible, printed and robust sensor platform for the detection of various parameters: strain, flow speed, pressure, conductivity, temperature and magnetic field. The sensors are based on Laser-Induced Graphene fabricated by laser printing on Kapton substrate. Multi-functionality is obtained by exploiting printing process combined with the flexible nature of Kapton and the piezoresistivity of Graphene. Sensor have been implemented for the detection of strain, flow speeds, forces pressure, salinity and magnetic field. Their sensitivity and dynamic range can be tailored via the substrate and laser printing design. A robust and reliable operation was obtained during underwater experiments in the Red Sea.

During the Austral summer 2009 we studied three areas surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula: the Bellingshausen Sea, the Bransfield Strait and the Weddell Sea. We aimed to investigate, whether viruses or protists were the main agents inducing prokaryotic mortality rates, and the sensitivity to temperature of prokaryotic heterotrophic production and mortality based on the activation energy (Ea) for each process. Seawater samples were taken at seven depths (0.1-100 m) to quantify viruses, prokaryotes and protists abundances, and heterotrophic prokaryotic production (PHP). Viral lytic production, lysogeny, and mortality rates of prokaryotes due to viruses and protists were estimated at surface (0.1-1m) and at the Deep Fluorescence Maximum (DFM, 12-55 m) at eight representative stations of the three areas. The average viral lytic production ranged from 1.0±0.3*107 viruses ml-1 d-1 in Bellingshausen Sea to1.3±0.7*107 viruses ml-1 d-1 in the Bransfield Strait, while lysogeny, when detectable, recorded the lowest value in Bellingshausen Sea (0.05±0.05*107 viruses ml-1 d-1) and the highest in the Weddell Sea (4.3±3.5*107 viruses ml-1 d-1). Average mortality rates due to viruses ranged from 9.7±6.1*104 cells ml-1 d-1 in the Weddell Sea to 14.3±4.0*104 cells ml-1 d-1 in the Bellingshausen Sea, and were higher than averaged grazing rates in the Weddell Sea (5.9±1.1*104 cells ml-1 d-1) and in the Bellingshausen Sea (6.8±0.9*104 cells ml-1 d-1). The highest impact on prokaryotes by viruses and main differences between viral and protists activities were observed in surface samples: 17.8±6.8*104 cells ml-1 d-1 and 6.5±3.9*104 cells ml-1 d-1 in the Weddell Sea; 22.1±9.6 *104 cells ml-1 d-1 and 11.6±1.4 *104 cells ml-1 d-1 in the Bransfield Strait; and 16.1±5.7*104 cells ml-1 d-1 and 7.9±2.6*104 cells ml-1 d-1 in the Bellingshausen Sea, respectively. Furthermore, the rate of lysed cells and PHP showed higher sensitivity to temperature than grazing rates by protists. We conclude that viruses were more important mortality agents than protists mainly in surface waters and that viral activity has a higher sensitivity to temperature than grazing rates. This suggests a reduction of the carbon transferred through the microbial food-web that could have implications in the biogeochemical cycles in a future warmer ocean scenario.

Trabajo presentado en ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting (2011), celebrado en San Juan (Puerto Rico), del 13 al 17 de febrero de 2011

Anthropogenic activities in the coastal zone often result in large increases in nutrient concentrations and changes in community metabolism and ecosystem function. The central question to the project EUROTROPH was to identify the response of ecosystem metabolism to different eutrophication levels in three widely contrasting European coastal ecosystems. The study sites were investigated during two seasons and were: the Scheldt estuary (turbid and eutrophied), Randersfjord (low turbidity and nutrient-managed estuary) and the Bay of Palma (mesoto oligotrophic and abundance of seagrass beds). Overall, the main drivers of planktonic gross and net primary production are irradiance and the concentration of nitrate whereas temperature, concentration of nitrate and dissolved organic carbon are the main drivers of planktonic community respiration and bacterial production. The effect of temperature declined in importance for the later two processes in the highly eutrophied site. All sites were heterotrophic, except the Bay of Palma in winter, and sources of CO2 to the atmosphere, except Randersfjord and the Bay of Palma in winter. The behavior of benthic community metabolism and eutrophication in European estuaries will be discussed.

The global ocean genome (the pool of genes in marine organisms and the functional information they encode) is a major, untapped resource for science and society with a growing range of biotechnology applications in sectors such as biomedicine, energy, and food. Shotgun sequencing and metagenomics can now be used to catalog the diversity of ocean microbial life and to explore its functional potential, but has been limited by sample coverage, access to suitable sequencing platforms, and computational capacity. Here we provide a novel synthesis of the global ocean genome based on analysis of 2,102 sampled ocean metagenomes, with gene assembly and annotation via the KAUST Metagenome Analysis Platform (KMAP) Global Ocean Gene Catalog 1.0 containing 308.6 million gene clusters. Taxonomically, we report the distribution of marine genes across the tree of life and different ocean basins and depth zone biomes. Functionally, we map its relationship to protein families and biogeochemical processes, including the major microbial metabolic pathways that process three elements that play fundamental roles in biogeochemical cycles and are relevant to climate change. These data extend our understanding of the complex, dynamic nature of the ocean microbiome and its metabolic capabilities. Further research is of critical global importance both to unlock the potential of the ocean genome and to understand and predict the effects of human-induced changes, including pollution and climate change. Further hypothesis-driven research should target under-sampled deep sea and benthic microbial communities using enhanced metagenomic methods, to better understand marine ecosystem functioning. Investment in the necessary computational capacity is essential, as are suitable intellectual property frameworks.

Coastal saltmarshes are key ecosystems with important ecological functions. Yet, they have experienced a widespread decline. Due to their importance, the conservation and restoration of saltmarshes are globally shared objectives, including China. Despite multiple local studies, nationwide information about saltmarshes in China is scarce. Thus, we used remote sensing to delineate the spatial distribution and areal extent of saltmarshes along coastal China and resolve their species composition. By interpreting 10 m spatial resolution Sentinel-2 images on Google Earth Engine, assisted with field survey and literature search, a total of 118 010 ha of saltmarshes were delineated in coastal China in 2019. Seven typical saltmarsh species were identified, with <i>Phragmites australis</i>, <i>Spartina alterniflora,</i> and <i>Scirpus mariquater</i> as dominant species, accounting for 95.5&#x0025; of total saltmarsh extent, while <i>Suaeda salsa</i>, <i>Tamarix chinensis</i>, <i>Cyperus malaccensis,</i> and <i>Sesuvium portulacastrum</i> were present in limited abundance. The <i>P. australis</i> and exotic species <i>S. alterniflora</i> grow along almost all coastal provinces, but <i>P. australis</i> dominates in the north while <i>S. alterniflora</i> dominates in the middle part of coastal China. <i>Suaeda salsa</i> occurs mainly in the north and has suffered large losses. <i>Tamarix chinensis</i> is abundant in Shandong province, <i>S. mariquater</i> in the Yangtze River delta, <i>C. malaccensis</i> in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and <i>S. portulacastrum</i> in Taiwan. The exotic species <i>S. alterniflora</i> expanded extensively along the coast and its expansion rate continues to increase. The results provided conform a much-needed baseline for future monitoring efforts and the assessment of progress in the conservation and restoration projects toward recovering saltmarshes in China.

The perception that anthropogenic stressors cause jellyfish blooms is widespread within the scientific literature and media but robust evidence in support of these claims appears scarce. We used a citation analysis of papers published on "jellyfish blooms" to assess the extent to which such claims are made and the robustness of the evidence cited to support claims. Our search of the Web of Science returned 365 papers on "jellyfish blooms". Each paper was searched for statements linking jellyfish blooms to specific anthropogenic stressors. For each statement we recorded the affirmation afforded to the claim, identified the stressors purported to cause blooms, the sources cited to support the statement, the type of study cited and the species studied in the cited source. Almost half the papers claimed that blooms were facilitated by anthropogenic stressors but most (70%) afforded a low degree of affirmation to the claim. We identified three major limitations in the evidence used to support claims: 1) evidence was dominated by studies of two wide-spread and highly invasive taxa (Aurelia aurita and Mnemiopsis leidyi) that may not represent the responses of jellyfishes more generally; 2) the empirical studies cited were dominated by correlative studies which, whilst useful for generating hypotheses, cannot attribute causation; and 3) the most commonly-cited reviews often cited circumstantial evidence and other reviews and provided conceptual models of how stressors could influence blooms, rather than robust evidence. We conclude that, although anthropogenic stressors could enhance jellyfish blooms, robust evidence is limited. Claims that strongly affirm anthropogenic stressors as causes of jellyfish blooms appear to be amplifying the evidence beyond that available. As a community we need to strike a better balance between perpetuating perception and accurately portraying the state of knowledge. Moreover, we should consider that anthropogenic stressors may adversely affect some species of jellyfish.