Trait-based assembly and phylogenetic structure in northeast Pacific rockfish assemblages

AbstractKelp forests are globally important and highly productive ecosystems, yet their persistence and protection in the face of climate change and human activity are poorly known. Here, we present a 35-year time series of high-resolution satellite imagery that maps the distribution and persistence of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forests along ten degrees of latitude in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. We find that although 7.7% of giant kelp is protected by marine reserves, when accounting for persistence only 4% of kelp is present and protected. Protection of giant kelp decreases southerly from 20.9% in Central California, USA, to less than 1% in Baja California, Mexico, which likely exacerbates kelp vulnerability to marine heatwaves in Baja California. We suggest that a two-fold increase in the area of kelp protected by marine reserves is needed to fully protect persistent kelp forests and that conservation of climate-refugia in Baja California should be a priority.

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Right on target: using data from targeted stocks to reconstruct removals of bycatch species, a case study of longnose skate from Northeast Pacific Ocean

Fisheries Research ◽

10.1016/j.fishres.2020.105841 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 236 ◽

pp. 105841

Author(s):

Vladlena V. Gertseva ◽

Sean E. Matson

Keyword(s):

Pacific Ocean ◽

Northeast Pacific ◽

Using Data ◽

Northeast Pacific Ocean

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Conspicuousness, phylogenetic structure, and origins of Müllerian mimicry in 4000 lycid beetles from all zoogeographic regions

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-85567-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Michal Motyka ◽

Dominik Kusy ◽

Michal Masek ◽

Matej Bocek ◽

Yun Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Simple Model ◽

Phylogenetic Diversity ◽

Single Species ◽

Visual Signals ◽

South East Asia ◽

Phylogenetic Information ◽

Phylogenetic Structure ◽

Chemical Defences ◽

Single Region ◽

General Appearance

AbstractBiologists have reported on the chemical defences and the phenetic similarity of net-winged beetles (Coleoptera: Lycidae) and their co-mimics. Nevertheless, our knowledge has remained fragmental, and the evolution of mimetic patterns has not been studied in the phylogenetic context. We illustrate the general appearance of ~ 600 lycid species and ~ 200 co-mimics and their distribution. Further, we assemble the phylogeny using the transcriptomic backbone and ~ 570 species. Using phylogenetic information, we closely scrutinise the relationships among aposematically coloured species, the worldwide diversity, and the distribution of aposematic patterns. The emitted visual signals differ in conspicuousness. The uniform coloured dorsum is ancestral and was followed by the evolution of bicoloured forms. The mottled patterns, i.e. fasciate, striate, punctate, and reticulate, originated later in the course of evolution. The highest number of sympatrically occurring patterns was recovered in New Guinea and the Andean mountain ecosystems (the areas of the highest abundance), and in continental South East Asia (an area of moderate abundance but high in phylogenetic diversity). Consequently, a large number of co-existing aposematic patterns in a single region and/or locality is the rule, in contrast with the theoretical prediction, and predators do not face a simple model-like choice but cope with complex mimetic communities. Lycids display an ancestral aposematic signal even though they sympatrically occur with differently coloured unprofitable relatives. We show that the highly conspicuous patterns evolve within communities predominantly formed by less conspicuous Müllerian mimics and, and often only a single species displays a novel pattern. Our work is a forerunner to the detailed research into the aposematic signalling of net-winged beetles.

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