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Using a total of ∼7000 accumulated beaks sorted from 92 food samples, the cephalopod diet of sooty albatross Phoebetria fusca was determined for the first time at the subtropical Amsterdam Island (3898 beaks from 53 food samples), and it was compared with prey eaten at the subantarctic Crozet Islands (3085 beaks from 39 samples). At Amsterdam Island, sooty albatross fed on 42 cephalopod taxa that included the dominant Histioteuthis atlantica (34.7% by number of beaks) and juvenile Ommastrephes cylindraceus/Todarodes filippovae (10.1%). They preyed primarily upon cephalopods that have a wide latitudinal distribution (55.1%), with subtropical species ranking second (25.8%), and Southern Ocean endemics third (19.1%). By contrast, birds from Crozet Islands fed primarily on Southern Ocean endemics (80.7%), followed by subtropical species (14.8%), and taxa with a wide distribution (4.5%). There, the main prey were adult Histioteuthis eltaninae (24.6%), Batoteuthis skolops (27.2%) and Galiteuthis glacialis (16.2%). Sympatric sooty and light-mantled sooty P. palpebrata albatrosses from Crozet Islands segregated by feeding on different prey indicating different foraging grounds north and south of the archipelago, respectively. Light-mantled sooty albatross fed almost exclusively on Southern Ocean endemics (98.2%), such as G. glacialis (44.4%), Psychroteuthis glacialis (21.4%), H. eltaninae (13.4%) and Moroteuthopsis longimana (10.2%). Including cephalopod prey of sooty albatross to the previous investigations on teuthofauna from the southern Indian Ocean added southern subtropical species to Southern Ocean taxa. Overall, teuthofauna of this vast oceanic zone hosts at least 71 cephalopod species, including two bathyteuthids, 56 oegopsids, two sepiolids, three cirrate and seven incirrate octopods, and the vampyroteuthid Vampyroteuthis infernalis. • The cephalopod diet of sooty albatross was determined for the first time at the subtropical Amsterdam Island. • Albatross feeds first on widely-distributed squids, with subtropical taxa ranking second, and Southern Ocean endemics third. • By contrast birds from subantarctic Crozet Islands feed first on Southern Ocean endemics, followed by subtropical squids. • Prey of sooty albatross highlight the importance of some squids in the pelagic ecosystem of the southern Indian Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Balearic Archipelago (western Mediterranean) is an area of great ecological interest due to the combination of complex geomorphology, highly oligotrophic waters and low fishing pressure. Sponges play a key role in benthic habitats, providing structural complexity and significantly contributing to their diversity and biomass. Here, we present an insight into the sponge communities of this archipelago from the analysis of samples collected during several scientific research surveys carried out on bottom trawl fishing grounds around the Balearic Islands and on sedimentary and rocky bottoms of the Mallorca Channel seamounts. Sampling was carried out with experimental bottom trawl, beam trawl, rock dredge and remotely operated vehicle (ROV). We analyzed species presence/absence data using multivariate methods in order to identify assemblages. Once identified, we characterized their biodiversity, biomass and taxonomic composition. A dbRDA analysis was conducted to test the influence of environmental variables and fishing pressure on the sponge communities. Up to 350 species are reported: 220 at bottom trawl fishing grounds and 189 at seamounts. Communities were structured by depth, temperature, currents, substrate and fishing pressure with sponge presence/absense, biomass and diversity also linked to the presence of deep algae beds. Taxonomic composition differed between bottom trawl fishing grounds and the seamounts, where this fishing activity is almost negligible, pointing to different sensitivity to this fishing impact among the different orders, particularly for Tetractinellida, which was much more diverse and abundant at seamounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rich and diverse charophyte flora is described from the Bathonian marginal marine beds of southern France. It includes nine species that belong to the families Porocharaceae, Characeae and Clavatoraceae: Porochara gr. fusca, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. kimmeridgensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. westerbeckensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. douzensis, P. gr. kimmeridgensis subgr. obovata, Auerbachichara saidakovskyi, A. tataouinensis, Aclistochara mädleri and Echinochara cf. peckii. This is the most diverse Middle Jurassic flora reported from France and Laurasia to date, elucidating a turnover in the evolution of charophytes during this time interval. The occurrence of the clavatoracean Echinochara cf. peckii in these Bathonian deposits represents the oldest record of the genus and of the whole family, c. 10 myr older than previous records. This species is considered to be the most basal species in the phylogeny of Clavatoraceae and during its evolutionary history reached a wide biogeographical range in Laurasia. The new Bathonian charophyte assemblage from southern France provides supplementary evidence that the Middle Jurassic was a reactivation pulse in the Mesozoic evolution of charophytes, rather than a stasis as previously thought. Moreover, it provides further support to the hypothesis that during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous the islands of the Cretaceous Tethyan Archipelago represented one of the most active spots of charophyte diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines inflation dynamics in Indonesia, a large archipelagic country, using the Phillips curve specification. Utilising province‐level data from 2015 to 2019, the analysis accounts for regional interaction across Indonesian provinces and estimates spatial spillovers. To address the challenges of applying spatial methods to the world's largest archipelagic nation, two new approaches for the spatial weight matrix criteria are introduced: contiguity‐based from artificial boundaries (Thiessen polygons) and trade‐based from the Interregional Input–Output Tables. Furthermore, exploiting a new dataset, the study contrasts alternative measurements of inflation and output gap. These distinctions yield new findings. The results indicate the presence of a conventional Phillips curve in Indonesia. Different measures of inflation and the output gap have distinct spatial spillover effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]