Search

Gill surface area (S) and respiration (R) in juvenile and adult crustaceans scale with their body weight (W) such that S ∝ R ∝ Wd, with d ranging mostly between 0.6 and 0.9, but always

Southern California is a mega-metropolitan area with abundant air pollution, complex geology, and diverse Mediterranean ecosystems. The objective of this study was to evaluate trace metal and metalloids (TMMs) (As, Cd, Co, Cr Cu, Ni, Pb, U, V, Zn) in soils and foliage of peri-urban areas and explore potential effects from human-development, ecosystems, and geologic material. Foliage of dominant native vegetation, soil samples (0–20 cm), saprolite, and unweathered rock samples were collected across fifty-four sampling sites in foothills spanning coastal Los Angeles and Orange counties to inland San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Soil As, Cd, Cu, and Pb concentrations were regionally elevated, but not as elevated as point-source polluted sites elsewhere. Soil Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations were above EPA Ecological Soil Screening Levels. Further, enrichment factors (EF) normalized to Ti concentrations in bedrock suggest minor to moderate As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and V accumulation in soils. Our foliar TMM concentrations and bioaccumulation factors (BAF) (foliar and soil ratio) indicate no bioaccumulation and limited effects across geologic, development intensity, and ecosystems groups. Sedimentary-derived soils affected soil TMMs, but likely not through inheritance of TMMs but by promoting clay and organic matter availability. Proximity to higher development intensity resulted in As, Cd, Cr, Cu, and Pb accumulation in peri-urban soils. Foliar TMM concentrations and BAFs suggest geologic materials, human development, and ecosystem properties were not important factors and TMMs were likely controlled by plant uptake or ecophysiology.

Understanding population genetic structure can help us to infer dispersal patterns, predict population resilience and design effective management strategies. For sessile species with limited dispersal, this is especially pertinent because genetic diversity and connectivity are key aspects of their resilience to environmental stressors. Here, we describe the population structure of Ircinia campana, a common Caribbean sponge subject to mass mortalities and disease. Microsatellites were used to genotype 440 individuals from 19 sites throughout the Greater Caribbean. We found strong genetic structure across the region, and significant isolation by distance across the Lesser Antilles, highlighting the influence of limited larval dispersal. We also observed spatial genetic structure patterns congruent with oceanography. This includes evidence of connectivity between sponges in the Florida Keys and the southeast coast of the United States (>700 km away) where the oceanographic environment is dominated by the strong Florida Current. Conversely, the population in southern Belize was strongly differentiated from all other sites, consistent with the presence of dispersal-limiting oceanographic features, including the Gulf of Honduras gyre. At smaller spatial scales (

Fragmented ultramafic bodies in New England were important mineral resources until the early twentieth century, yet few studies have addressed their potential to release trace metals to terrestrial and aquatic environments. Here, we evaluate the release of four trace metals (Cr, Co, Mn, and Ni) from a historic serpentine–talc “soapstone” quarry in Blandford, MA, USA. Soil pits, sediment and rock samples, and stream water samples were collected from upslope undisturbed areas, within the mine spoils and mine face, and downslope of the mine. In order to provide a bottom-up approach for understanding metal release, careful petrographic analysis, electron-dispersive spectroscopy, and wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy were employed to provide first-order insight into the mineralogy of the deposit and a determination of potential metal-bearing phases. Trace metals were primarily observed in ultramafic sheet silicates, primary Fe-oxides, and interstitial weathering-related sulfates. Bulk rock concentrations were Cr (1550 mg kg−1), Co (230 mg kg−1), Mn (1100 mg kg−1), and Ni (1960 mg kg1); Cr, Co, and Ni were elevated relative to the surrounding country rock. However, soils and sediments total concentrations were comparable to background soil concentrations: Cr (119 mg kg−1), Co (73 mg kg−1), Mn (894 mg kg−1), and Ni (65 mg kg−1). Moreover

Benthic quadrat surveys using 2-D images are one of the most common methods of quantifying the composition of coral reef communities, but they and other methods fail to assess changes in species composition as a 3-dimensional system, arguably one of the most important attributes in foundational systems. Structure-from-motion (SfM) algorithms that utilize images collected from various viewpoints to form an accurate 3-D model have become more common among ecologists in recent years. However, there exist few efficient methods that can classify portions of the 3-D model to specific ecological functional groups. This lack of granularity makes it more difficult to identify the class category responsible for changes in the structure of coral reef communities. We present a novel method that can efficiently provide semantic labels of functional groups to 3-D reconstructed models created from commonly used SfM software (i.e., Agisoft Metashape) using fully convolutional networks (FCNs). Unlike other methods, ours involves creating dense labels for each of the images used in the 3-D reconstruction and then reusing the projection matrices created during the SfM process to project semantic labels onto either the point cloud or mesh to create fully classified versions. When quantitatively validating the classification results we found that this method is capable of accurately projecting semantic labels from image-space to model-space with scores as high as 91% pixel accuracy. Furthermore, because each image only needs to be provided with a single set of dense labels this method scales linearly making it useful for large areas or high resolution-models. Although SfM has become widely adopted by ecologists, deep learning presents a steep learning curve for many. To ensure repeatability and ease-of-use, we provide a comprehensive workflow with detailed instructions and open-sourced the programming code to assist others in replicating our methodology. Our method will allow researchers to assess precise changes in 3-D community composition of reef habitats in an entirely novel way, providing more insight into changes in ecological paradigms, such as those that occur during coral-algae shifts.

Marine sponges are hosts to large, diverse communities of microorganisms. These microbiomes are distinct among sponge species and from seawater bacterial communities, indicating a key role of host identity in shaping its resident microbial community. However, the factors governing intraspecific microbiome variability are underexplored and may shed light on the evolutionary and ecological relationships between host and microbiome.Here, we examined the influence of genetic variation and geographic location on the composition of the Ircinia campana microbiome.We developed new microsatellite markers to genotype I. campana from two locations in the Florida Keys, USA, and characterized their microbiomes using V4 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.We show that microbial community composition and diversity is influenced by host genotype, with more genetically similar sponges hosting more similar microbial communities. We also found that although I. campana was not genetically differentiated between sites, microbiome composition differed by location.Our results demonstrate that both host genetics and geography influence the composition of the sponge microbiome. Host genotypic influence on microbiome composition may be due to stable vertical transmission of the microbial community from parent to offspring, making microbiomes more similar by descent. Alternatively, sponge genotypic variation may reflect variation in functional traits that influence the acquisition of environmental microbes. This study reveals drivers of microbiome variation within and among locations, and shows the importance of intraspecific variability in mediating eco‐evolutionary dynamics of host‐associated microbiomes., For the first time, the authors show that intraspecific genetic variation affects microbiome composition in a marine sponge (Ircinia campana), with positive correlations observed between genetic and microbiome similarity. This has significant implications for our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary relationships between host and microbiome in this important model system.

Early research Electronic dance music as a phenomenon began in the 1980s, and people began to think about it academically in the 1990s. The first people to do so were primarily sociologists, as well as scholars in cultural studies. That also reflects the general history of the study of popular music within the academy: musicologists were unfortunately late to the table, so we started to see more musicology of popular music in general in the late 1990s, but typically focusing on canonical grou...

Premieres recherches L’EDM, en tant que phenomene social, est apparue dans les annees 1980 et on a commence a la prendre pour objet d’etude dans le monde universitaire a partir des annees 1990. Les premiers a le faire etaient des sociologues ou des chercheurs travaillant dans le domaine des cultural studies. Cela reflete l’histoire generale de l’etude des musiques populaires a l’Universite : les musicologues s’y sont malheureusement interesses sur le tard et, a la fin des annees 1990, malgre ...

Depression is associated with adverse outcomes in epilepsy but is undertreated in this population. Project UPLIFT, a telephone-based depression self-management program, was developed for adults with epilepsy and has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms in English-speaking patients. There remains an unmet need for accessible mental health programs for Hispanic adults with epilepsy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effects on depressive symptoms of a culturally adapted version of UPLIFT for the Hispanic community. Hispanic patients with elevated depressive symptoms (n = 72) were enrolled from epilepsy clinics in New York City and randomized to UPLIFT or usual care. UPLIFT was delivered in English or Spanish to small groups in eight weekly telephone sessions. Feasibility was assessed by recruitment, retention, and adherence rates and acceptability was assessed by self-reported satisfaction with the intervention. Depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 scores) were compared between study arms over 12 months. The mean age was 43.3±11.3, 71% of participants were female and 67% were primary Spanish speakers. Recruitment (76% consent rate) and retention rates (86–93%) were high. UPLIFT participants completed a median of six out of eight sessions and satisfaction ratings were high, but rates of long-term practice were low. Rates of clinically significant depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥5) were lower in UPLIFT versus usual care throughout follow-up (63% vs. 72%, 8 weeks; 40% vs. 70%, 6 months; 47% vs. 70%, 12 months). Multivariable-adjusted regressions demonstrated statistically significant differences at 6 months (OR = 0.24, 95% CI, 0.06–0.93), which were slightly reduced at 12 months (OR = 0.30, 95% CI, 0.08–1.16). Results suggest that UPLIFT is feasible and acceptable among Hispanic adults with epilepsy and demonstrate promising effects on depressive symptoms. Larger trials in geographically diverse samples are warranted.

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed new norms on human interactions, perhaps best reflected in the widespread application of social distancing. But social distancing is not a human invention and has evolved independently in species as dissimilar as apes and lobsters. Epidemics are common in the wild, where their spread is enhanced by animal movement and sociality while curtailed by population fragmentation, host behavior, and the immune systems of hosts. In the present article, we explore the phenomenon of behavioral immunity in wild animals as compared with humans and its relevance to the control of disease in nature. We start by explaining the evolutionary benefits and risks of sociality, look at how pathogens have shaped animal evolution, and provide examples of pandemics in wild animal populations. Then we review the known occurrences of social distancing in wild animals, the cues used to enforce it, and its efficacy in controlling the spread of diseases in nature.

Background Research has underscored the need to develop socioculturally tailored interventions to improve adherence behaviors in minority patients with hypertension (HTN) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Novel mobile health (mHealth) approaches are potential methods for delivering tailored interventions to minority patients with increased cardiovascular risk. Objective This study aims to develop and evaluate the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a tailored mHealth adherence intervention versus attention control (AC) on medication adherence, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) at 3 months in 42 Black patients with uncontrolled HTN and/or T2D who were initially nonadherent to their medications. Methods This was a two-phase pilot study consisting of a formative phase and a clinical efficacy phase. The formative phase consisted of qualitative interviews with 10 members of the target patient population (7/10, 70% female; mean age 65.8 years, SD 5.6) to tailor the intervention based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills model of adherence. The clinical efficacy phase consisted of a 3-month pilot randomized controlled trial to evaluate the tailored mHealth intervention versus an AC. The tablet-delivered intervention included a tailoring survey, an individualized adherence profile, and a personalized list of interactive adherence-promoting modules, whereas AC included the tailoring survey and health education videos delivered on the tablet. Acceptability was assessed through semistructured exit interviews. Medication adherence was assessed using the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, whereas blood pressure and HbA1c were assessed using automated devices. Results In phase 1, thematic analysis of the semistructured interviews revealed the following 5 major barriers to adherence: disruptions in daily routine, forgetfulness, concerns about adverse effects, preference for natural remedies, and burdens of medication taking. Patients recommended the inclusion of modules that address improving patient-provider communication, peer vignettes, and stress reduction strategies to facilitate adherence. A total of 42 Black patients (23/42, 55% male; mean age 57.6 years, SD 11.1) participated in the clinical efficacy pilot trial. At 3 months, both groups showed significant improvements in adherence (mean 1.35, SD 1.60; P Conclusions This pilot study demonstrated preliminary evidence on the acceptability of a tailored mHealth adherence intervention among a sample of Black patients with uncontrolled HTN and T2D who were initially nonadherent to their medications. Future research should explore whether repeated opportunities to use the mHealth intervention would result in improvements in behavioral and clinical outcomes over time. Modifications to the intervention as a result of the pilot study should guide future efforts. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01643473; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/ NCT01643473

In crustaceans, ecdysis was long believed to result in the loss and replacement of all calcified structures, precluding the use of conventional ageing methods. However, the discovery of bands in the gastric ossicles of several crustaceans with some correlation with age suggests that direct age estimation may be possible. We applied this method to a tropical spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, one of the most iconic and economically valuable species in the Caribbean. The presence of growth bands was investigated using wild lobsters of unknown age and was validated with captive reared lobsters of known age (1.5–10 years) from the Florida Keys, Florida (USA). Bands were consistently identified in ptero- and zygo-cardiac ossicles of the gastric mill and did not appear to be associated with moulting. Validation with known age animals confirms that bands form annually. Counts between independent readers were reproducible with coefficients of variation ranging from 11% to 26% depending on reader experience and the structure used. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that direct age determination of P. argus is possible.

The fishery for Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) in The Bahamas, which is the largest in the Wider Caribbean Sea, was historically trap-based, but casitas surpassed traps as the primary fishing gear in the 1990s. Casitas are artificial shelters that aggregate lobsters for ease of capture, but they are unregulated in The Bahamas and their effects on fishery sustainability are unknown. Concerns about whether overcrowding of lobsters within casitas detrimentally alters lobster growth, disease, or mortality prompted our study. Tethering and videography were used to compare lobster mortality and predation risk at casitas and in the natural environment, whereas nutritional condition, growth, injury, and prevalence of disease were compared for lobsters within casitas and traps. We found no difference in predation on subadult or adult lobsters in casitas compared to natural areas, although predators were more abundant near casitas. Lobsters in casitas had higher blood protein indices and fewer had shell disease than those in traps; the PaV1 virus was absent from lobsters we sampled. Starvation experiments in which lobsters were held in "ghost" traps during the closed season revealed a significant decline in lobster nutritional condition and an increase in shell disease after 3 wks, with nearly all lobsters afflicted after 6–12 wks. In summary, we found no evidence that casitas negatively affect subadult and adult P. argus in The Bahamas. Juvenile lobsters were rare in our study so potential effects of casitas on them were not investigated. Traps, however, pose a risk to the fishery if not properly managed.

For decades, water quality in Florida Bay and the shallow, back-reef areas of large portions of the Florida Keys (Florida, USA) have varied dramatically as a consequence of climatic conditions and water management strategies in the adjacent freshwater marshes of the Everglades. The resulting fluctuations in water quality have led to die-offs of seagrass and sponges in hard-bottom habitats, transforming the ecosystem. In this study, we examined the implications of water quality on sponge community structure in two ways. First, in laboratory experiments we tested the tolerance of five prominent sponge species to salinities ranging from 15 psu to 45 psu at typical summer and winter temperatures. We then compared sponge distributions at 32 sites in the Florida Keys with regional patterns in water quality. Our experiments showed that during the summer the loggerhead sponge ( Speciospongia vesparium) and glove sponge ( Spongia cheiris ) were the most tolerant of sustained changes in salinity, but most species died at higher rates at salinities other than 35 psu. Salinity-associated mortality declined in the winter, but was again higher at salinities Ircinia variablis and Cinachyrella alloclada grow in most environments, whereas the occurrence of most species declines when salinity is variable and at high nutrient concentrations. These results provide a more detailed picture of the species-specific environmental tolerance of several shallow-water Caribbean sponges, and suggest that changes in environmental conditions are likely to significantly impact their distribution and species composition with potentially drastic impacts on ecosystem function.

Human use of the ocean and its ecosystems continues to degrade coastal habitats around the world. Assessing anthropogenic impacts on these environments can be costly and manpower-intensive; thus, the development of rapid, remote techniques to assess habitat quality is important. We employed autonomous hydrophone receivers to record the soundscapes of healthy, sponge-rich hard-bottom habitat in Florida Bay, Florida (USA) and hard-bottom areas impacted by sponge die-offs. We also recorded sounds emanating from individual sponges of three species that were isolated in underwater sound booths, and then enumerated the invertebrates (mostly snapping shrimp) dwelling within the canals of each sponge. From these recordings, a modified cylindrical sound propagation model was used to estimate distances to individual snapping shrimp snaps. Using the program Distance , we estimated snapping shrimp population density and abundance within both habitat types. More snapping shrimp snaps per unit time were recorded in healthy hard-bottom areas as compared to degraded hard-bottom areas. In addition, the average distance to a snap source was greater within degraded hard-bottom areas than within healthy hard-bottom areas. As a consequence, the estimated density and abundance of snapping shrimp were one to two orders of magnitude greater within healthy habitat than within degraded habitat. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using acoustic sampling and modeling to rapidly assess populations of soniferous benthic indicator species, whose vocalizations may yield indirect estimates of habitat quality.

For more than 100 years, the Florida Keys (USA) have supported a commercial sponge fishery but there is little information about the small artisanal fishery that now exists, which is nonetheless controversial because of concerns about the ecological consequences of sponge harvest. We estimated the harvest of commercial sponges and bycatch (sublegal or non-commercial species), as well as the mortality, growth, and reproduction of commercial sponge species. In heavily fished areas, ∼33% of the legal-sized sponges, ∼3% of the sublegal sponges, and virtually none of the non-commercial species were harvested. Approximately 40% of our study area was never fished during the four month long peak in the fishing season. Self-reporting of harvest by fishers who participated in our study closely matched our fishery-independent estimates. Natural mortality of sublegal-sized sponges was ∼7% of the population/yr, with little difference among species. Discarded “roller” sponges grew at rates comparable to attached sponges and many reattached to the seafloor within 18 mos, although rates of reattachment varied among species. Growth also differed among species and sampling periods (mean = 3 cm dia/yr), and reproductive effort was positively related to sponge size in some species, but not others. Given the careful targeting of commercial sponge species and sizes by fishers and the small fraction of the sponge community that is commercially valuable, harvest is estimated to have minimal impact on the diverse assemblage of sponges in the region.

The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is intended to restore the Everglades ecosystem (FL, USA) by altering its hydrology, with likely consequences for “downstream” estuarine and marine communities in Florida Bay and the Florida Keys. Spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) are among several species of special concern with respect to CERP because they are of economic and ecological importance and because their nursery habitat may be impacted. We used agent-based, spatially explicit modeling to evaluate the possible impacts of changing water quality (temperature, salinity, harmful algal blooms (HABs)) on spiny lobsters and sponges, the latter of which provide shelter for juvenile lobsters. In our simulations, lobster abundance declined 6–24% in scenarios where salinity either decreased alone or in combination with HABs that kill sponges and are associated with changing water quality. The most severe decline in lobsters occurred when salinity was lowest and HABs occurred annually. One third of this decline was attributable to decreased salinity that increased lobster mortality and movement. However, the greatest impacts on lobsters were indirect. CERP-associated changes in salinity along with HABs caused a die-off of large sponges, resulting in higher predatory mortality on lobsters that depend on sponges for shelter in hard bottom nursery habitats. Sponges declined by ∼50% in simulations with HABs, whereas decreased salinity alone led to sponge mortality of 9–18%. In contrast, higher temperatures increased juvenile lobster growth and eventual recruitment by approximately 7%. Our results suggest that returning Florida Bay to more estuarine, pre-development conditions is likely to result in an ecosystem reversal that is detrimental to stenohaline marine taxa, a scenario with significant socioeconomic implications.

Four previously published metrics for determining nutritional condition in decapods were evaluated for efficacy, specifically a serum protein index and three hepatopancreas-based indices (dry weight index, percent tissue dry weight, and relative weight). Using the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) as a model, lobsters were subjected to 5 wk of controlled diets in a laboratory-feeding trial. Three of the four indices detected significant differences between lobsters fed 15% or 100% of their daily maximum food intake, but lobster size and molt stage significantly influenced several metrics. Dry weight index of the hepatopancreas performed best, but relative weight of the digestive gland was the least affected by lobster size and molt stage. As both are destructive methods that require dissection of the lobster, these may not be useful for all studies. Hemolymph serum protein concentration is nondestructive and can be assessed rapidly in the laboratory or field, but it is str...

Genetic tools can have a key role in informing conservation management of declining populations. Genetic diversity is an important determinant of population fitness and resilience, and can require careful management to ensure sufficient variation is present. In addition, population genetics data reveal patterns of connectivity and gene flow between locations, enabling mangers to predict recovery and resilience, identify areas of local adaptation, and generate restoration plans. Here, we demonstrate a conservation genetics approach to inform restoration and management of the loggerhead sponge (Spheciospongia vesparium) in the Florida Keys, USA. This species is a dominant, habitat-forming component of marine ecosystems in the Caribbean region, but in Florida has suffered numerous mass mortality events. We developed microsatellite markers and used them to genotype sponges from 14 locations in Florida and a site each in The Bahamas, Belize and Barbuda. We found that genetic diversity levels were similar across all sites, but inbreeding and bottleneck signatures were present in Florida. Populations are highly structured at the regional scale, whilst within Florida connectivity is present in a weak isolation by distance pattern, coupled with chaotic genetic patchiness. Evidence of a weak barrier to gene flow was found in Florida among sites situated on opposite sides of the islands in the Middle Keys. Loggerhead sponge populations in Florida are vulnerable in the face of mass mortalities due to low connectivity with other areas in the region, as well as distance-limited and unpredictable local connectivity patterns. However, our discovery of Florida’s high genetic diversity increases hope for resilience to future perturbations. These results provide valuable insight for sponge restoration practice in Florida.

The parasitic dinoflagellate Hematodinium perezi infects the American blue crab Callinectes sapidus and other decapods along the Eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico coast of the USA. Large juvenile and adult blue crabs experience high mortality during seasonal outbreaks of H. perezi, but less is known about its presence in the early life history stages of this host. We determined the prevalence of H. perezi in megalopae and early benthic juvenile crabs from multiple locations along the Virginia portion of the Delmarva Peninsula. The DNA of H. perezi was not detected in any megalopae collected from several locations within the oceanic coastal bay complex in which H. perezi is found at high prevalence levels. However, prevalence levels were high in early benthic juveniles from 2 oceanic coastal embayments: South Bay and Cobb Bay. Prevalence levels were lower at locations within Chesapeake Bay, including Cherrystone Creek, Hungars Creek, and Pungoteague Creek. Sampling over different seasons and several consecutive years indicates that disease transmission occurs rapidly after megalopae settle in high-salinity bays along the Delmarva Peninsula during the late summer and fall. Infected juvenile crabs can overwinter with the parasite and, when subjected to increasing water temperatures in spring, infections progress rapidly, culminating in transmission to other crabs in late spring and early summer. In high-salinity embayments, H. perezi can reach high prevalence levels and may significantly affect recruitment of juvenile blue crabs into the adult fishery.

The key to the conservation of harvested species is the maintenance of reproductive success. Yet for many marine species large, old, individuals are targeted despite their disproportionate contribution to reproduction. We hypothesized that a combination of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) and harvest slot limits (maximum and minimum size limits) would result in the conservation of large spawning individuals under heavy harvest. We tested this approach under different harvest intensities with a 2-sex, stage-structured metapopulation model for the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus). P. argus is intensively harvested in the Caribbean, and in many localities large, mature individuals no longer exist. No-take MPAs and harvest slot limits combined, rebuilt and maintained large mature individuals even under high harvest pressure. The most conservative model (a 30% MPA and harvest slot limit of 75-105 mm) increased spawner abundance by 5.53EConservación de Stocks Reproductivos por medio de Límites de Espacios de Producción y Áreas Protegidas de Cero Captura Resumen La clave para la conservación de las especies en criaderos es la manutención del éxito reproductivo. Aún así, para muchas especies marinas los individuos grandes y viejos son seleccionados a pesar de su contribución desproporcionada para la reproducción. Nuestra hipótesis supone que una combinación de áreas marinas protegidas (AMPs) de cero captura y los límites de espacio de producción (límites máximos y mínimos de tamaño) resultaría en la conservación de individuos reproductivos grandes durante una producción intensiva. Probamos esta estrategia bajo diferentes intensidades de crianza con un modelo metapoblacional de dos sexos y estructurado por etapas aplicado a la langosta espinosa del Caribe (Panulirus argus). P. argus es producida intensivamente en el Caribe y en muchas de las localidades, los individuos grandes y maduros ya no existen. La combinación de las AMPs de cero captura y los límites de espacio de producción regeneró y mantuvo individuos grandes y maduros incluso bajo una presión alta de producción. El modelo más conservador (un 30% de MPA y un límite de espacio de producción de 75-105 mm) incrementó la abundancia de individuos reproductivos por 5.53E保护被捕捞物种的关键是保障其成功繁殖。然而, 对于许多海洋物种来说, 体型大的老龄个体尽管对繁殖贡献的比例更大, 但仍是捕捞的目标。我们假设, 将禁止捕捞的海洋保护区和捕捞箱限制 (最大和最小尺寸限制) 相结合, 可以在捕捞量较大的情况下保护产卵的大型物种。我们用加勒比海的眼斑龙虾 (Panulirus argus) 两种性别、有年龄结构的复合种群模型检验了这一方法。眼斑龙虾在加勒比海地区被广泛捕捞, 许多地点已不存在大型成熟个体。结果显示, 结合禁止捕捞的海洋保护区和捕捞箱限制, 即使在高捕捞压力下也能重建和维持成熟个体数量。最保守的模型 (30% 海洋保护区和75-105毫米的捕捞箱限制) 相比于继续维持现状, 在30年后产卵雌性的数量可以增加5.53E12。而单独建立海洋保护区, 也可以在30年的高捕捞强度下使产卵种群数量增加2.76-9.56E12只个体。我们的结果证明, 海洋保护区和捕捞箱限制在某些海洋和淡水环境中对大型繁殖个体具有较好的保护潜力。不过, 对渔场的最适管理战略决策还需要在生态和经济、社会方面之间取得平衡。【翻译: 胡怡思; 审校: 聂永刚】.

© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg Connectivity, the exchange of individuals among locations, is a fundamental ecological process that explains how otherwise disparate populations interact. For most marine organisms, dispersal occurs primarily during a pelagic larval phase that connects populations. We paired population structure from comprehensive genetic sampling and biophysical larval transport modeling to describe how spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) population differentiation is related to biological oceanography. A total of 581 lobsters were genotyped with 11 microsatellites from ten locations around the greater Caribbean. The overall FST of 0.0016 (P = 0.005) suggested low yet significant levels of structuring among sites. An isolation by geographic distance model did not explain spatial patterns of genetic differentiation in P. argus (P = 0.19; Mantel r = 0.18), whereas a biophysical connectivity model provided a significant explanation of population differentiation (P = 0.04; Mantel r = 0.47). Thus, even for a widely dispersing species, dispersal occurs over a continuum where basin-wide larval retention creates genetic structure. Our study provides a framework for future explorations of wide-scale larval dispersal and marine connectivity by integrating empirical genetic research and probabilistic modeling.

Most marine habitats have unique soundscapes and, among other potential ecological consequences, the larvae of many fish and invertebrates use habitat-specific sounds to locate appropriate settlement habitat. Anthropogenic stressors have degraded coastal ecosystems worldwide, but the effects of this degradation on the sounds emanating from deteriorated habitats are largely undocumented, as is the effectiveness of habitat restoration in reestablishing natural soundscapes. In this study, we investigated how ambient sound emanating from three near-shore, tropical habitats (subtidal mangrove prop-root habitat, seagrass, and sponge-dominated hard-bottom) in the Florida Keys, Florida (USA) varied with time-of-day and lunar phase. We also examined whether the destruction of sponge communities in hard-bottom habitats struck by cyanobacteria blooms alters the soundscape of that habitat, and if restoration of sponge communities can reestablish natural underwater soundscapes. Soundscapes of each habitat were examined using several acoustic metrics, including spectral analysis and counts of fish calls and snapping shrimp snaps. Mangrove, healthy hard-bottom, and restored hard-bottom habitats had higher soundscape spectra levels than seagrass and degraded hard-bottom whether at noon or dusk during new or full moons. Low-frequency sounds, most likely fish calls in the ~ 300 Hz frequency range, were most prevalent in mangroves during dusk full moons. There were also higher numbers of snapping shrimp snaps in mangrove, healthy hard-bottom, and restored hard-bottom habitats than in degraded hard-bottom and seagrass beds, especially during the prominent dusk snapping shrimp chorus. Our results demonstrate that near-shore tropical habitats have unique soundscapes that are diminished by habitat degradation, but can be reestablished by habitat restoration, at least in the case of sponge-dominated hard-bottom.

Summary Coral reefs are on a steep trajectory of decline, with natural recovery in many areas unlikely. 1 , 2 , 3 Eutrophication, overfishing, climate change, and disease have fueled the supremacy of seaweeds on reefs, 4 , 5 particularly in the Caribbean, where many reefs have undergone an ecological phase shift so that seaweeds now dominate previously coral-rich reefs. 6 , 7 , 8 Discovery of the powerful grazing capability of the Caribbean’s largest herbivorous crab (Maguimithrax spinosissimus) 9 led us to test the effectiveness of their grazing on seaweed removal and coral reef recovery in two experiments conducted sequentially at separate locations 15 km apart in the Florida Keys (USA). In those experiments, we transplanted crabs onto several patch reefs, leaving others as controls (n = 24 reefs total; each 10−20 m2 in area) and then monitored benthic cover, coral recruitment, and fish community structure on each patch reef for a year. We also compared the effectiveness of crab herbivory to scrubbing reefs by hand to remove algae. Crabs reduced the cover of seaweeds by 50%−80%, resulting in a commensurate 3−5-fold increase in coral recruitment and reef fish community abundance and diversity. Although laborious hand scrubbing of reefs also reduced algal cover, that effect was transitory unless maintained by the addition of herbivorous crabs. With the persistence of Caribbean coral reefs in the balance, our findings demonstrate that large-scale restoration that includes enhancement of invertebrate herbivores can reverse the ecological phase shift on coral reefs away from seaweed dominance.

Casitas are artificial shelters used by fishers to aggregate Caribbean spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) for ease of capture. However, casitas may function as an ecological trap for juvenile lobsters if they are attracted to casitas and their growth or mortality is poorer compared with natural shelters. We hypothesized that juvenile lobsters may be at particular risk if attracted to casitas because they are less able than larger individuals to defend themselves, and do not forage far from shelter. We compared the nutritional condition, relative mortality, and activity of lobsters of various sizes in casitas and natural shelters in adult and juvenile lobster-dominated habitats in the Florida Keys (United States). We found that the ecological effects of casitas are complex and location-dependent. Lobsters collected from casitas and natural shelters did not differ in nutritional condition. However, juvenile lobsters in casitas experienced higher rates of mortality than did individuals in natural shelters; the mortality of large lobsters did not differ between casitas and natural shelters. Thus, casitas only function as ecological traps when deployed in nursery habitats where juvenile lobsters are lured by conspecifics to casitas where their risk of predation is higher. These results highlight the importance of accounting for animal size and location-dependent effects when considering the consequences of habitat modification for fisheries enhancement.

The average size of spiny lobsters (Decapoda; Palinuridae) has decreased worldwide over the past few decades. Market forces coupled with minimum size limits compel fishers to target the largest individuals. Males are targeted disproportionately as a consequence of sexual dimorphism in spiny lobster size (i.e. males grow larger than females) and because of protections for ovigerous females. Therefore, overexploitation of males has led to sperm limitation in several decapod populations with serious repercussions for reproductive success. In the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, little is known about the effect of reduced male size on fertilization success or the role that individual size plays in gamete and larval quality. We conducted a series of laboratory experiments to test the relationship between male size and spermatophore production over multiple mating events and to determine whether spermatophore reduction and female size affected fertilization success or larval attributes in P. argus in the Florida Keys, FL (USA). We found that over consecutive matings, larger males consistently produced spermatophores of a greater weight and area than smaller males, although size-specific differences in sperm cell density were undetected and probably obscured by high variance in the data. Where spermatophores were experimentally reduced to mimic the decline in spermatophore size with declining male size, fertilization success (the number of fertilized eggs/total number of eggs extruded) declined, indicating that sperm availability is indeed limited. No maternal size effects on egg size or quality (C:N ratio) or larval quality (size, swimming speed, mortality) were observed. Our results demonstrate the importance of maintaining large males in populations of P. argus to ensure fertilization success and caution against their overexploitation through fishing, which may severely reduce reproductive success and thus population sustainability.

Contents: Introduction Part I Production, Performance and Aesthetics: When sound meets movement: performance in electronic dance music, Pedro Peixoto Ferreira From refrain to rave: the decline of figure and the rise of ground, Philip Tagg Conceptualizing rhythm and meter in electronic dance music, Mark J. Butler Producing kwaito: nkosi sikelel' iAfrika after apartheid, Gavin Steingo The disc jockey as composer, or how I became a composing DJ, Kai Fikentscher On the process and aesthetics of sampling in electronic music production, Tara Rodgers The aesthetics of failure: 'post-digital' tendencies in contemporary computer music, Kim Cascone 'A pixel is a pixel. A club is a club': toward a hermeneutics of Berlin style DJ and VJ culture, Sebastian Klotz. Part II The Body, the Spirit and (the Regulation of ) Pleasure: In defence of disco, Richard Dyer In the empire of the beat: discipline and disco, Walter Hughes 'I want to see all my friends at once': Arthur Russell and the queering of gay disco, Tim Lawrence I feel love: disco and its discontents, Tavia Nyong'o Sampling sexuality: gender, technology and the body in dance music, Barbara Bradby Sampling (hetero)sexuality: diva-ness and discipline in electronic dance music, Susana Loza Dancing with desire: cultural embodiment in Tijuana's nor-tec music and dance, Alejandro L. Madrid The spiritual economy of nightclubs and raves: osho sannyasins as party promoters in Ibiza and Pune/Goa, Anthony D'Andrea Electronic dance music culture and religion: an overview, Graham St John Soundtrack to an uncivil society: rave culture, the Criminal Justice Act and the politics of modernity, Jeremy Gilbert. Part III Identities, Belongings and Distinctions: Genres, subgenres, sub-subgenres and more: musical and social differentiation within electronic/dance music communities, Kembrew McLeod Exploring the meaning of the mainstream (or why Sharon and Tracy dance around their handbags), Sarah Thornton Women and the early British rave scene, Maria Pini Roomful of Asha: gendered productions of ethnicity in Britaina (TM)s 'Asian Underground', Falu Bakrania 'I want muscles': house music, homosexuality and masculine signification, Stephen Amico Mr Mesa's ticket: memory and dance at the Body Positive T-dance, Fiona Buckland The death of the dance party, Kane Race Post-soul futurama: African American cultural politics and early Detroit techno, Sean Albiez Music tourism and factions of bodies in Goa, Arun Saldanha The dancer from the dance: the musical and dancing crowds of clubbing, Ben Malbon Name index.

Sperm limitation of reproductive success is common in decapod crustaceans, favouring mating systems in which females compete for large males of high reproductive value. We investigated these phenomena in two species of spiny lobsters—one temperate, one tropical—with contrasting reproductive systems: the Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii) and the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus). We hypothesized that female mate selection should be more pronounced in the temperate J. edwardsii than in the tropical P. argus because J. edwardsii matures later, has a shorter mating season, and produces just one clutch of eggs per year that benefit from significant maternal investment of resources. As hypothesized, experiments conducted in large mesocosms revealed that female J. edwardsii cohabited with large males more often than expected by chance during their receptive period, but not at other times. Large male J. edwardsii cohabited in dens with the largest unmated females, whereas small males exhibited no mate size preference. In contrast, the proportion of female and male P. argus that co-occupied dens with the opposite sex was no more than expected by chance. Cohabitation patterns in the wild supported these laboratory findings for both species. Our results demonstrate the tight connection between contrasting reproductive strategies and the specificity of mate choice in spiny lobsters that are consistent with predictions based on environmental seasonality in temperate vs. tropical ecosystems.

Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) living in high salinity regions along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States are subject to infection by the parasitic dinoflagellate Hematodinium perezi with a prevalence that can exceed 50%. Infections are usually lethal, thus H. perezi infection represents a significant cause of mortality in many crab populations. Most studies of this host-parasite interaction have focused on epidemiology, host-pathogen dynamics, and pathogen transmission; little is known about the impact of the parasite on host behavior and population dynamics. We examined the effects of H. perezi on blue crab mortality from predation, activity patterns, and habitat use. Infected crabs suffered significantly higher predation than uninfected crabs when tethered in the field. Similarly, infected juvenile crabs were preyed upon significantly more often than uninfected conspecifics when exposed to a predatory adult crab in laboratory experiments. Laboratory experiments also revealed that the behavior of infected and uninfected crabs differed in ways that affected their risk of predation. Compared to infected crabs, uninfected juvenile crabs buried more frequently, moved less, and used oyster shell substrate more often when a predator was present. These differences do not appear to be driven by olfactory cues because chemosensory assays show that H. perezi infections do not affect detection of juvenile crabs by adult crabs, nor infected juvenile crab chemosensory responses to adult crabs. Our results indicate that H. perezi infection alters crab behavior in ways that enhance predatory culling of infected crabs, and this in turn may limit the spread of the parasite.

The PaV1 virus infects spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) throughout most of the Caribbean, where its prevalence in adult lobsters can reach 17% and where it poses a significant risk of mortality for juveniles. Recent studies indicate that vertical transmission of the virus is unlikely and PaV1 has not been identified in the phyllosoma larval stages. Yet, the pathogen appears subclinically in post-larvae collected near the coast, suggesting that lobster post-larvae may harbour the virus and perhaps have aided in the dispersal of the pathogen. Laboratory and field experiments also confirm the waterborne transmission of the virus to post-larval and early benthic juvenile stages, but its viability in the water column may be limited to a few days. Here, we coupled Lagrangian modelling with a flexible matrix model of waterborne and post-larval-based pathogen dispersal in the Caribbean to investigate how a large area with complex hydrology influences the theoretical spread of disease. Our results indicate that if the virus is waterborne and only viable for a few days, then it is unlikely to impact both the Eastern and Northwestern Caribbean, which are separated by dispersal barriers. However, if PaV1 can be transported between locations by infected post-larvae, then the entire Caribbean becomes linked by pathogen dispersal with higher viral prevalence in the North. We identify possible regions from which pathogens are most likely to spread, and highlight Caribbean locations that function as dispersal “gateways” that could facilitate the rapid spread of pathogens into otherwise isolated areas.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are an important ecosystem-based management approach to help improve the sustainability of the spiny lobster fishery (Panulirus argus), but information is lacking concerning levels of lobster population connectivity among MPAs. Given their prolonged (~6 months) pelagic larval duration, population connectivity must be considered in any spatial management plan for P. argus. We used genetic techniques to uncover spatial patterns of connectivity among MPAs along the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (MBRS) of Central America. We hypothesized that connectivity would be greater and genetic differentiation diminished among lobster populations within MPAs in the southern MBRS, which is dominated by a retentive oceanographic environment, as compared to MPAs in the more advective environment further north. We found that levels of connectivity are high among spiny lobster populations residing in MPAs in Central America, although overall F ST was low (F ST = 0.00013) but significant (P = 0.037). MPAs in the northern MBRS contained significantly more individuals that were genetically determined outliers or migrants than southern MPAs (P = 0.008, R 2 = 0.61), which may have contributed to the higher levels of genetic differentiation observed in northern MPAs. Direct genetic testing of larvae and adults will be required to confirm this hypothesis. The high level of connectivity among MPAs provides additional evidence of the importance of international cooperation in the management of Caribbean lobster fisheries. However, uncertainty regarding the ecological and physical drivers of genetic differentiation in Northern MPAs implies that managers should hedge against uncertainty.

The interplay of competition and predation often affects prey habitat use, which may concentrate prey in safer areas with indirect consequences on their foraging efficiency and the effects of their foraging on the community. Predation is intense on coral reefs where competition for limited space and food is severe. The sea urchin Diadema antillarum, an inhabitant of Caribbean coral reefs, uses crevice shelters and often aggregates with conspecifics for protection against predators, which appears to reflect a conflicting balance between group defense versus competition for limited shelter. A series of laboratory experiments was used to determine how the availability of shelter, conspecifics, and chemical odors from conspecifics and a predator—the spotted spiny lobster (Panulirus guttatus)—affect D. antillarum shelter use. The long-spined sea urchin D. antillarum responded strongly to the odor of conspecifics and the lobster predator. Absent the threat of predation, D. antillarum compete for shelte...