Marine and coastal ecosystems are rapidly degrading, compromising the supply of ecosystem services critical to human well-being. Addressing this crisis requires understanding how marine and coastal ecosystems underpin these services. However, marine and coastal ecosystems remain underrepresented in ecosystem services research, with available information fragmented and scattered. We conducted a systematic literature review on marine and coastal ecosystem services and their association with habitats, following the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES). We analysed 3316 records from 139 countries, spanning 21 classes of regulating and maintenance (1323), provisioning (1153) and cultural (840) services. Research on marine ecosystem services has surged since 2008, with most records from Asia (29%), North America (21%) and Europe (15%). Provisioning services focused on seafood provision (wild: 66%, aquaculture: 24%), whereas regulating services were predominantly related to waste removal and storage (35%), coastal protection (30%) and lifecycle maintenance (20%). Cultural services centred on recreation and tourism (71%). Approximately half of the records linked ecosystem services with specific habitats. Mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs were the most studied (31-14%) and were associated with nearly all services (19-17 classes). Other habitats, including pelagic zones, kelp forests, continental shelves, intertidal mudflats, deep sea and sea ice, were underrepresented (6-1%), and generally linked to fewer services (10-6). Knowledge gaps persist in the Southern Hemisphere, and mainly for services such as energy provision, sediment regulation and biological control. Addressing these gaps, and expanding research on understudied habitats, ecosystem disservices, service interactions and habitat condition, is urgent to inform marine and coastal conservation and management.

Climate change is predicted to drive species redistribution, altering the composition of marine communities and affecting ecosystem functioning. There is increasing evidence that fish distributions follow a trend of poleward expansion, while realised niches often decrease in range size. This study aimed to assess the influence of oceanographic connectivity and intrinsic dispersal mechanisms on changes in suitable habitats of the European seahorses (Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus) from the present (2010–2020) until the end of the century (2090–2100). Habitat suitability was assessed using Ensemble Species Distribution Modelling under two Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSP2 and SSP5) coupled with biophysical modelling to estimate oceanographic connectivity. The results show that intrinsic dispersal mechanisms and oceanographic connectivity limit the northward range expansion, while predicted habitat loss remained constant in all dispersal scenarios, with the highest habitat loss forecasted in the Mediterranean and northern Africa. Consequently, considering restricted dispersal, H. guttulatus was projected to experience a negative range change (or habitat contraction [-45

Anthropogenic pressures on marine ecosystems are increasing worldwide, causing loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and driving species towards risk of extinction. To protect vulnerable species and habitats, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly established worldwide as conservation measures. Seahorses act as flagship species for coastal ecosystem conservation due to their charismatic appearance and high vulnerability to habitat degradation. Here, the habitat suitability of the two European seahorse species, Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus, was assessed along the western Iberian Peninsula, using an ensemble species distribution modelling approach. Furthermore, the coverage of their core habitat (relative habitat suitability (HS) ≥ 0.5) with MPAs was estimated. The results show that the main drivers for habitat suitability were distance to the coast, aspect of the seafloor, tidal amplitude, and temperature. However, the importance differed between the two species. The suitable habitat of H. hippocampus extended to higher distances to the coast, while H. guttulatus were mostly restricted to areas in the vicinity of the coast and facing away from the open sea (i.e., the westerly aspect of the seafloor). Furthermore, temperature contributes more to the variation in habitat suitability in H. hippocampus than in H. guttulatus. The areas with the highest habitat suitability are estuarine or inlet waters and sheltered coasts in northwestern Spain, central and south of Portugal. Both species’ core habitats are covered by about 19-20% with implemented protected areas in Portugal. In comparison, there is less coverage for both species in Spain, with 12% for H. guttulatus and 6% for H. hippocampus. Besides, zones of full protection cover less than 0.5% of the core habitat while the rest of the protected areas provide only moderate to low restrictions and do not specifically address the protection of seahorses in their management plans. The results provide useful information on the distribution and the different habitat preferences of the two species, indications for further monitoring of populations, and recommendations for efficient spatial conservation areas that can protect the species and other associated vulnerable species and habitats.

Over one-third of all elasmobranch species are at risk of extinction worldwide. This study aims to contribute to their conservation worldwide through a case study that combines georeferenced data on species presence and abundance with spatial distribution of human activities, through a Spatial Conflict Risk Index (SCRI). The SCRI pinpoints possible risk areas obtained from the spatial overlap of elasmobranch species abundance and distribution with impacting human activities. Data on species presence and abundance around a Marine Protected Area, the Berlengas Natural Reserve (Portugal) were obtained through four non-invasive methods: Baited Remote Underwater Videos (BRUV), Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), scientific observers onboard longline commercial fishing vessels and citizen science and social media reports. Human activities were mapped based on LEK. Qualitative abundance and distribution data was obtained for 22 species. SCRI highlighted some high-risk areas due to overlap of areas of frequent occurrence of elasmobranchs with potential high impact activities (e.g. longline fishery). This study highlighted the potential of multi-method approaches to estimate the distribution of rare, highly mobile species in data-limited contexts, and assess their exposure to human activities. The SCRI is a useful tool to support the implementation of effective conservation regulations.

Rocky reefs are heavily impacted by anthropogenic activity and since they are important breeding, nursery and feeding areas, their protection is imperative. To improve conservation methods, it is necessary to understand the structure and processes of rocky reef communities. Trophic relationships are one of the examples of species connection, with food webs representing the flow of matter and energy from producers to consumers and from prey to predators. Stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) was used to characterize the food web of the rocky reefs of Arrábida Marine Protected Area (Portugal) and to explore habitat complexity – niche diversification relationships. Results showed a complex food web with high trophic richness supported by a wide range of basal resources. As a result of the wide range of basal resources and primary consumers the food web was characterized by a high degree of omnivory which led to a relatively short food web. Furthermore, consumers displayed diverse diets and feeding strategies, exploiting different sources of organic matter, of both benthic (macroalgae and benthic POM) and pelagic origin (phytoplankton and pelagic POM). However, the benthic pathway was more important with more than half of the diet of most secondary and tertiary consumers following this route, hinting at the importance held by macroalgae and benthic production in this ecosystem. Overall, the high habitat complexity allied to the shallow and sheltered location of the reefs increased niche diversification (wide range of basal resources) supporting a diversity of omnivore species which improved the connectance among taxa and thus the complexity of the food web. This study is an essential step to better understand shallow temperate rocky reefs and, as such, provide additional support for conservation measures and management decisions.

Trait-based approaches are a powerful tool, as they not only improve understanding of ecological complexity and functioning but also allow comparison across different ecosystems and biogeographical regions. They may be used to unveil ecosystem processes and assess community structures, but their great potential becomes limited when dealing with scattered trait data and historically unstandardised trait nomenclature. The lack of standardisation allows authors to use the terminology of their preference, which inevitably leads to ambiguous misunderstandings and limits comparison between different studies. There have been some attempts to organise the trait vocabulary, but even these are mostly created from the perspective of a single ecosystem, which limits their applicability. In this work, we conducted a systematic literature review that identified and compiled 1127 traits across 37 datasets of fishes, invertebrates and zooplankton from freshwater, marine and transitional ecosystems. This dataset was then used to build on the Marine Species Traits Wiki and to propose a new, unified approach to a trait vocabulary based directly on readily available trait data. We propose a single standardised designation for all the different traits identified and provide a list of all the different synonyms commonly used for these traits. A roadmap to help the trait selection process is also provided, offering a guide through four main steps and important questions for choosing an adequate set of traits at the beginning of any study, which constitutes one of the main challenges in functional ecology research. Overall, this proposal will provide a solid baseline for tackling gaps in trait nomenclature and ensuring a clearer future for functional ecology studies.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) require effective indicators to assess their performance, in compliance with the goals of relevant national and international commitments. Achieving and prioritizing shortlists of multidisciplinary indicators demands a significant effort from specialists to depict the multiple conservation and socioeconomic interests, and the large complexity of natural systems. The present paper describes a structured expert-based methodology (process and outputs) to co-define a list of multidisciplinary MPA performance indicators. This work was promoted by the management authority of coastal MPAs in mainland Portugal to gather a consensual and feasible list of indicators that would guide the design of a future national monitoring program. Hence, Portuguese coastal MPAs served as a case study to develop such a process between 2019 and 2020. In the end, participants (1) agreed on a shortlist of prioritized indicators ( i.e. , environmental, governance, and socioeconomic indicators) and (2) defined minimum monitoring frequencies for the indicators in this list, compatible with the potential replicability of the associated survey methods. The present approach recommends that management plans incorporate monitoring procedures and survey methods, with a validated list of indicators and associated monitoring periodicity, agreed among researchers, MPA managers and governance experts. The proposed methodology, and the lessons learned from it, can support future processes aiming to define and prioritize MPA performance indicators.

Connectivity plays a key role in biodiversity conservation as it sustains ecological processes, such as migrations, important for the maintenance of populations. Connectivity is especially relevant for species that rely on different realms during their life cycle or use different realms daily or seasonally (multi-realm species). However, efforts to address conservation across multiple realms have focused on identifying priority areas for conservation in a single realm (mostly marine) while accounting for threats propagating from other realms or single species needs. Here, we demonstrate how to identify priority areas for conservation across three different realms (freshwater-terrestrial, estuary and marine) for multiple species, including some multi-realm species, that inhabit or move across the three realms, using the Tagus River (Western Iberian Peninsula), its estuary and nearby marine area as a case study. We integrated multiple types of connectivity in the selection of priority areas for conservation, each of them customised to depict important drivers of movement within each realm and across realms: longitudinal connectivity along rivers or multidimensional connectivity in the estuary and marine realms, guided by currents and depth similarity, respectively. We compared the allocation of priority areas and spatial connectivity achieved under three scenarios: no-connectivity, within-realm and cross-realm connectivity scenarios. There were differences in the spatial allocation of priority areas across scenarios. The most remarkable difference laid on the connectivity achieved under each scenario, which experienced a threefold increase when considering connectivity across realms, compared to solutions that considered only connectivity within each realm independently. This improvement in connectivity was especially marked for species that occur across different realms. There were, however, trade-offs between this improvement in connectivity and the increase in the number of planning units selected, especially in the estuary. Synthesis and applications. Addressing connectivity across realms deserves special attention when planning for the conservation of multi-realm species to ensure the adequacy of conservation recommendations to respond to the needs of multi-realm species. Given the potential trade-offs between enhanced cross-realm connectivity and total area needed or internal within-realm connectivity, consideration of cross-realm connectivity must be cautiously evaluated and integrated in multi-realm conservation plans.

DATA REPORT article Front. Mar. Sci., 06 July 2021Sec. Marine Ecosystem Ecology https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.685294

The overexploitation of marine resources has led to a decrease in species abundance over time in many marine ecosystems worldwide. But as new fishers arise throughout the years, the perception of local abundance changes which might result in a “shifting baselines syndrome”. We investigated how the perception of fishers about species abundance changed through time (from 1970 to 2016) and space (five ports), through questionnaires in the small-scale/artisanal fisheries of Murcia, Spain. Two major results emerged, firstly species catches significantly decreased between the decades 1970–1990 and 2000–2016, possibly due to overfishing and habitat degradation. Catches of species with some particular functional traits decreased (96%) possibly due to lower plasticity or to a “fishing down the food web” effect. Secondly, some functional trait categories (very large size, deep water depth, large yearly displacements and very vagile) were the highest in the northern ports of San Pedro del Pinatar and Cartagena while Cabo de Palos had the highest values in species with solitary and territorial behaviour and vagile or sedentary mobility. Fishers’ perception of catch trends of commercial species seemed aligned with other sources of information for this area and might be key information in the absence of more quantitative information.

Pyometra is a common dioestral uterine disease in middle aged female dogs that often leads to a loss of breeding potential and, in some cases, can be life threatening. Hormonal and bacterial factors are central in the pathogenesis of the disease. Most pyometra cases are caused by specialized Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains that have similar characteristics to the uropathogenic strains. Uteropathogenic E. coli (UtPEC) strains express a multitude of virulence factors to break the inertia of the mucosal barrier. In response to the breach by UtPEC, host inflammatory responses are triggered leading to cytokine production, neutrophil influx, and local tissue destruction. In this Review, we discuss current concepts on the pathogenesis of UtPEC, with particular emphasis on the bacteria virulence factors and natural defenses within the uterus. We will survey the current understanding of host responses to UtPEC-mediated pyometra, as well as the consequences of these interactions for the pathophysiology of pyometra.

Converting assemblages of marine protected areas (MPAs) into functional MPA networks requires political will, multidisciplinary information, coordinated action and time. We developed a new framework to assist planning environmental representativity in a network across the marine space of Portugal, responding to a political commitment to protect 14% of its area by 2020. An aggregate conservation value was estimated for each of the 27 habitats identified, from intertidal waters to the deep sea. This value was based on expert-judgment scoring for environmental properties and features relevant for conservation, chosen to reflect the strategic objectives of the network, thus providing an objective link between conservation commitments and habitat representativity in space. Additionally, habitats' vulnerability to existing anthropogenic pressures and sensitivity to climate change were also scored. The area coverage of each habitat in Portugal and within existing MPAs (regionally and nationally) was assigned to a scale of five orders of magnitude (from <0.01% to >10%) to assess rarity and existing representation. Aggregate conservation value per habitat was negatively correlated with area coverage, positively correlated with vulnerability and was not correlated with sensitivity. The proposed framework offers a multi-dimensional support tool for MPA network development, in particular regarding the prioritization of new habitats to protect, when the goal is to achieve specific targets while ensuring representativity across large areas and complex habitat mosaics. It requires less information and computation effort in comparison to more quantitative approaches, while still providing an objective instrument to scrutinize progress on the implementation of politically set conservation targets.

Estuaries are threatened by intense and continuously increasing human activities. Here we estimated the sensitivity of fish assemblages in a set of estuaries distributed worldwide (based on species vulnerability and resilience), and the exposure to cumulative stressors and coverage by protected areas in and around those estuaries (from marine, estuarine and freshwater ecosystems, due to their connectivity). Vulnerability and resilience of estuarine fish assemblages were not evenly distributed globally and were driven by environmental features. Exposure to pressures and extent of protection were also not evenly distributed worldwide. Assemblages with more vulnerable and less resilient species were associated with estuaries in higher latitudes (in particular Europe), and with higher connectivity with the marine ecosystem, moreover such estuaries were generally under high intensity of pressures but with no concomitant increase in protection. Current conservation schemes pay little attention to species traits, despite their role in maintaining ecosystem functioning and stability. Results emphasize that conservation is weakly related with the global distribution of sensitive fish species in sampled estuaries, and this shortcoming is aggravated by their association with highly pressured locations, which appeals for changes in the global conservation strategy (namely towards estuaries in temperate regions and highly connected with marine ecosystems).

Assessing trait-environment relationships is crucial for predicting effects of natural and human-induced environmental change on biota. We compiled a global database of fish assemblages in estuaries, functional traits of fishes and ecosystem features of estuaries. And we quantified the relative importance of ecosystem features as drivers of patterns of fish functional traits among estuaries worldwide (i.e. drivers of the proportions of fish traits). In addition to biogeographical context, two main environmental gradients regulate traits patterns: firstly temperature, and secondly estuary size and hydrological connectivity of the estuary with the marine ecosystem. Overall, estuaries in colder regions, with larger areas and with higher hydrological connectivity with the marine ecosystem, have higher proportions of marine fish (versus freshwater), macrocarnivores and planktivores (versus omnivores, herbivores and detritivores) and larger fish, with greater maximum depth of distribution and longer lifespan. The observed trait patterns and trait-environment relationships are likely generated by multiple causal processes linked to physiological constraints due to temperature and salinity, size-dependent biotic interactions, as well as habitat availability and connectivity. Biogeographical context and environmental conditions drive species richness and composition, and present results show that they also drive assemblage traits. The observed trait patterns and trait-environment relationships suggest that assemblage composition is determined by the functional role of species within ecosystems. Conservation strategies should be coordinated globally and ensure protection of an array of estuaries that differ in ecosystem features, even if some of those estuaries do not support high species richness.

We present the first global biogeographical regionalization of estuaries, assessing how dispersal limitation and/or environmental filtering mechanisms drive the patterns of fish assemblage composition among and within biogeographical regions.

During the oestrous cycle canine endometrium undergoes cyclical cellular proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation. To study the regulation of endometrial apoptosis and proliferation events the expression of apoptosis-related genes was analysed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and cellular expression of their proteins was identified through immunohistochemistry. Cellular apoptosis and proliferation events were detected by TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) and proliferation marker Ki67 immunostaining, respectively. The highest proliferative index was observed in the follicular phase (all endometrial cellular components) and at early dioestrus (basal glands). This was associated with a low apoptotic index and a strong expression of anti-(Bcl2) and pro-apoptotic proteins (Fas, FasL, Bax). Subsequently (Days 11-45 of dioestrus), basal glandular epithelium experienced the highest apoptotic index, coincidental with a decrease of Bcl2 expression and a low ratio of Bcl2/Bax transcription. An increase in the apoptotic index of crypts, stromal and endothelial cells was observed at late dioestrus and the beginning of anoestrus. These results indicate that pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins regulate the balance between cell proliferation and death in the canine endometrium during the oestrous cycle. High Bcl2 expression in both the follicular and early dioestrous phases stimulate glandular proliferation and prevent apoptosis but, in the non-pregnant uterus, a decrease in Bcl2 expression together with an increase in proapoptotic proteins induces apoptosis of basal glandular epithelium cells.