scholarly journals Trophic position and isotopic niche of mangrove fish assemblages at both sides of the Isthmus of Panama

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara E Stuthmann ◽  
Gustavo A Castellanos-Galindo
Keyword(s):  
Food Webs ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Mangrove Ecosystem ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Isotopic Niche ◽  
Bocas Del Toro ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Caribbean

Fishes are important components of marine coastal ecosystems, often represented in food webs as second and third order consumers. Fish trophic positions (TP) in these food webs can vary across ontogeny and accurate estimation can provide insights into the functioning of these ecosystems. Mangrove ecosystem function can also vary depending on local and regional environmental conditions. Panamanian mangroves in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean occur under strikingly different environmental conditions after the closure of the Panama Isthmus over 3 mya and likely function differently. Here, we use δ15N and δ13C and Bayesian models to calculate the TP and the Convex Hull Area (TA) of the most common fish species inhabiting mangroves of the Gulf of Montijo and Bocas del Toro on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Panama, respectively. Thirteen dominant fishes were used for the estimation of TP, eight in the Pacific and five in the Caribbean. Mean TP of the communities was similar but with significantly larger variations in the Caribbean than in the Pacific. Similarly, the TA was larger for the Caribbean fish assemblage than for the Pacific. Both results indicate that trophic modes in the Caribbean fish assemblages are more varied than in the Pacific. With some exceptions, FishBase TP estimates correlated positively with TP stable isotope estimates. Our results suggest that TP and TA are good proxies for mangrove fish communities' trophic modes and that these metrics may vary depending on mangrove environmental settings.

scholarly journals The impact of biological invasion and genomic local adaptation on the geographical distribution of Aedes aegypti in Panama

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly L. Bennett ◽  
W. Owen McMillan ◽  
Jose R. Loaiza.
Keyword(s):  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Geographic Distribution ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Population Persistence ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Bocas Del Toro ◽  
Tropical Environments ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Caribbean

AbstractLocal adaptation is an important consideration when predicting arthropod-borne disease risk because it can impact on vector population fitness and persistence. However, the extent that vector populations are adapted to local environmental conditions and whether this can impact on species distributions generally remains unknown. Here we find that the geographic distribution of Ae. aegypti across Panama is rapidly changing as a consequence of the recent invasion by its ecological competitor, Aedes albopictus. Although Ae. albopictus has displaced Ae. aegypti in some areas, species coexist across many areas, raising the question: What biological and environmental factors permit population persistence?. Despite low population structure and high gene flow in Ae. aegypti across Panama, excepting the province of Bocas del Toro, we identify 128 candidate SNPs, clustered within 17 genes, which show a strong genetic signal of local adaptation. This putatively adaptive variation occurs across relatively fine geographic scales with the composition and frequency of candidate adaptive loci differing between populations in wet tropical environments along the Caribbean coast and the dry tropical conditions typical of the Pacific coast of Panama. Temperature and vegetation were important predictors of adaptive genomic variation in Ae. aegypti with potential areas of local adaptation occurring within the Caribbean region of Bocas del Toro, the Pacific coastal areas of Herrera and Panama City and the eastern Azuero Peninsula. Interestingly, several of these locations coincide with areas where Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus co-exist, suggesting that Ae. aegypti could have an adaptive edge under local environmental conditions that impacts on inter-specific competition with Ae. albopictus. Our results guide future experimental work by suggesting that locally adapted Ae. aegypti are able to persist on invasion by Ae. albopictus and, as a consequence, may fundamentally alter future arborviral disease risk and efforts to control mosquito populations.Author SummaryLocal environmental adaptation of mosquito vectors can alter the landscape of arthropod-borne disease by impacting on life history traits that increase their relative fitness thus promoting population persistence. We have identified a number of genomic loci in Ae. aegypti from Panama that exhibit a signal of natural selection associated with variation in the environment. Loci with a signal of local adaptation are predominately partitioned between wet and dry tropical environments with variation largely impacted by temperature and vegetation indices. Local adaptation in tandem with changes in the geographic distribution of Ae. aegypti due to the recent invasion of its ecological competitor, Ae. albopictus, has the potential to alter the landscape of arborviral disease.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of trophic niche compression: evidence from landscape disturbance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis J. Burdon ◽  
Angus R. McIntosh ◽  
Jon S. Harding
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Isotopic Niche ◽  
List Type ◽  
Landscape Disturbance ◽  
Trophic Diversity

AbstractNatural and anthropogenic disturbances commonly alter patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, how food webs respond to these changes remains poorly understood. Here, we have described aquatic food webs using invertebrate and fish community composition, functional traits, and stable isotopes from twelve agricultural streams along a landscape disturbance gradient.We predicted that excessive inputs of fine inorganic sediment (sedimentation) associated with agricultural land uses would negatively influence stream trophic diversity (e.g., reduced vertical and horizontal trophic niche breadths).Food-web properties based on Bayesian analyses of stable isotope data (δ13C and δ15N) from consumers showed that increasing sediment disturbance was associated with reduced trophic diversity, indicated by the whole community (fish and invertebrates combined) occupying a smaller area in isotopic niche space. Reductions in trophic diversity were best explained by a narrowing of the consumer δ13C range, and to a lesser extent, consumer δ15N range along the sedimentation gradient.We hypothesized that multiple mechanisms associated with sedimentation may have caused trophic niche ‘compression’. Decreased niche partitioning, driven by increasing habitat homogeneity, environmental filtering, and resource scarcity seemingly lead to a greater similarity in trophic roles. These pathways may have contributed to a reduction in trophic diversity, whereas increased resource homogeneity was seemingly less important.Our results also indicate downward shifts in the vertical trophic position of benthic meospredators and invertebrate prey relative to higher consumers. This ‘trophic decoupling’ suggests that terrestrial resource subsidies may offset reductions of aquatic prey for larger stream fishes.Sedimentation was associated with reduced trophic diversity, which may affect the functioning and stability of stream ecosystems. Our study helps explain how multiple mechanisms can influence food-web properties in response to this type of disturbance.

scholarly journals Planktotrophic Brachiopod Larvae from the Pacific and Caribbean of Panama

Diversity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Collin ◽  
Dagoberto Venera-Pontón ◽  
Amy Driskell ◽  
Kenneth Macdonald ◽  
Michael Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Dna Barcoding ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Operational Taxonomic Unit ◽  
Bocas Del Toro ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Low Levels

Lingulids and discinids are the only brachiopods that exhibit life histories that include a feeding planktonic stage usually referred to as a “larva”. We collected planktotrophic brachiopod larvae from the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Panama and took a DNA barcoding approach with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), mitochondrial ribosomal 16S, and nuclear ribosomal 18S genes to identify those larvae and to estimate their diversity in the region. We observed specimens from both coasts with distinct morphologies typical of lingulid and discinid larvae. COI and 16S were sequenced successfully for the lingulid larvae but failed consistently for all discinid larvae. 18S was sequenced successfully for larvae from both families. Sequence data from each gene revealed one lingulid operational taxonomic unit (OTU) from Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast, and one lingulid OTU from the Bay of Panama on the Pacific coast. These OTUs differed by >20% for COI, >10% for 16S and ~0.5% for 18S. Both OTUs clustered with GenBank sequences of Glottidia species, the only genus of lingulids in the Americas, but were distinct from G. pyramidata the only species reported for the Caribbean. Analysis of 18S sequence data for discinid larvae recovered 2 OTUs, one exclusively from the Pacific and one with a mixture of Pacific and Caribbean larvae. The 18S marker does not provide enough resolution to distinguish between species, and comparisons with GenBank sequences suggest that one OTU includes Pelagodiscus species, while the other may include Discradisca species. When compared with other marine invertebrates, our surveys of brachiopod larvae through DNA barcoding show relatively low levels of diversity for Panama.

scholarly journals The isotopic niche of Atlantic, biting marine mammals and its relationship to skull morphology and body size

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Drago ◽  
Marco Signaroli ◽  
Meica Valdivia ◽  
Enrique M. González ◽  
Asunción Borrell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Isotopic Niche ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Skull Morphology ◽  
Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management

AbstractUnderstanding the trophic niches of marine apex predators is necessary to understand interactions between species and to achieve sustainable, ecosystem-based fisheries management. Here, we review the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for biting marine mammals inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean to test the hypothesis that the relative position of each species within the isospace is rather invariant and that common and predictable patterns of resource partitioning exists because of constrains imposed by body size and skull morphology. Furthermore, we analyze in detail two species-rich communities to test the hypotheses that marine mammals are gape limited and that trophic position increases with gape size. The isotopic niches of species were highly consistent across regions and the topology of the community within the isospace was well conserved across the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, pinnipeds exhibited a much lower diversity of isotopic niches than odontocetes. Results also revealed body size as a poor predictor of the isotopic niche, a modest role of skull morphology in determining it, no evidence of gape limitation and little overlap in the isotopic niche of sympatric species. The overall evidence suggests limited trophic flexibility for most species and low ecological redundancy, which should be considered for ecosystem-based fisheries management.

scholarly journals Eutrophication induces shifts in the trophic position of invertebrates in aquatic food webs

Ecology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gea H. Lee ◽  
J. Arie Vonk ◽  
Ralf C.M. Verdonschot ◽  
Michiel H.S. Kraak ◽  
Piet F.M. Verdonschot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Webs ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Aquatic Food Webs ◽  
Aquatic Food

Mangrove ecosystem services and the potential for carbon revenue programmes in Solomon Islands

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
KIMBERLEY WARREN-RHODES ◽  
ANNE-MAREE SCHWARZ ◽  
LINDA NG BOYLE ◽  
JOELLE ALBERT ◽  
STEPHEN SUTI AGALO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Mangrove Ecosystem ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Religious Denomination ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Potential Carbon

SUMMARYMangroves are an imperilled biome whose protection and restoration through payments for ecosystem services (PES) can contribute to improved livelihoods, climate mitigation and adaptation. Interviews with resource users in three Solomon Islands villages suggest a strong reliance upon mangrove goods for subsistence and cash, particularly for firewood, food and building materials. Village-derived economic data indicates a minimum annual subsistence value from mangroves of US$ 345–1501 per household. Fish and nursery habitat and storm protection were widely recognized and highly valued mangrove ecosystem services. All villagers agreed that mangroves were under threat, with firewood overharvesting considered the primary cause. Multivariate analyses revealed village affiliation and religious denomination as the most important factors determining the use and importance of mangrove goods. These factors, together with gender, affected users’ awareness of ecosystem services. The importance placed on mangrove services did not differ significantly by village, religious denomination, gender, age, income, education or occupation. Mangrove ecosystem surveys are useful as tools for raising community awareness and input prior to design of PES systems. Land tenure and marine property rights, and how this complexity may both complicate and facilitate potential carbon credit programmes in the Pacific, are discussed.

scholarly journals Is urban bushmeat trade in Colombia really insignificant?

Oryx ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie van Vliet ◽  
Maria Quiceno ◽  
Jessica Moreno ◽  
Daniel Cruz ◽  
John E. Fa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris ◽  
Wild Meat ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Bushmeat Trade ◽  
Brocket Deer

AbstractThe bushmeat trade in ecosystems in South America other than those within the Amazon basin is presumed to be insignificant, as alternative sources of protein (e.g. beef, chicken, fish) are considered to be more readily available in non-moist forests. However, studies and confiscation reports from countries such as Colombia suggest that bushmeat is consumed in a variety of ecosystems, although the nature of market chains, particularly in urban areas, is still unknown. We studied the urban bushmeat trade in markets in the five main ecoregions in Colombia. We recorded a total of 85 species, the most frequently traded being the paca Cuniculus paca, red brocket deer Mazama americana, grey brocket deer Mazama gouazoubira, capybara Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, armadillo Dasypus spp. and black agouti Dasyprocta fuliginosa. Most sales of wild meat occur through clandestine channels and involve a limited number of stakeholders. Bushmeat is a luxury product in urban areas of the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Andean regions. Further work is needed to quantify and monitor the volumes of bushmeat traded, comprehend motivations, explore ways of reducing threats, and engage with stakeholders to organize legal and sustainable use of bushmeat.

Identification of Tropical Cyclones’ Critical Positions Associated with Extreme Precipitation Events in Central America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo G. Hidalgo ◽  
Eric J. Alfaro ◽  
Franklin Hernández-Castro ◽  
Paula M. Pérez-Briceño
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Critical Path ◽  
Central American ◽  
Pacific Basin ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Indirect Impacts ◽  
Precipitation Events

<p>Tropical cyclones are one of the most important causes of disasters in Central America. Using historical (1970–2010) tracks of cyclones in the Caribbean and Pacific basin, we identify critical path locations where these low-pressure systems cause the highest number of floods in a set of 88 precipitation stations in the region. Results show that tropical cyclones from the Caribbean and Pacific basin produce a large number of indirect impacts on the Pacific slope of the Central American isthmus. Although the direct impact of a tropical cyclone usually results in devastation in the affected region, the indirect effects are more common and sometimes equally severe. In fact, the storm does not need to be an intense hurricane to cause considerable impacts and damage. The location of even a lower intensity storm in critical positions of the oceanic basin can result in destructive indirect impacts in Central America. The identification of critical positions can be used for emergency agencies in the region to issue alerts of possible flooding and catastrophic events.</p>

scholarly journals REVISIÓN TAXONÓMICA DE LA FAMILIA ANTENNARIIDAE PARA COLOMBIA (PISCES: LOPHIIFORMES), INCLUYENDO UN NUEVO REGISTRO DE ANTENNARIUS

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luz M. Mejía Ladino ◽  
Arturo Acero P. ◽  
Luz S. Mejía M. ◽  
Andrea Polanco F.
Keyword(s):  
Common Species ◽  
Eastern Pacific ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Caribbean

The family Antennariidae is represented by two genera (Antennarius and Histrio) and seven species in the Western Atlantic, and by two genera (Antennarius and Antennatus) and five species in the Eastern Pacific. All the species are known from Colombian waters, with the exception of Antenanrius coccineus. In this study we review the family Antenariidae in Colombia, based on the examination of 51 specimens. Antennarius radiosus is first recorded from the Colombian Caribbean, based on two specimens collected with trawls at 20 m depth in Buritaca (Magdalena) and Isla Fuerte (Córdoba). Antennarius radiosus, Antennarius bermudensis, Antennarius multiocellatus, Antennarius ocellatus and Antennarius pauciradiatus are restricted to the Western Atlantic. The most common species found in Colombian seas are Antennarius striatus in the Caribbean and Antennarius avalonis in the Pacific. Histrio histrio is the only species with an almost circumglobal distribution. A key to identify antenariid fishes from Colombia is provided.

scholarly journals IUCN Guidelines for gathering of fishers’ knowledge for policy development and applied use

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winston Cowie ◽  
Shaikha Al Dhaheri ◽  
Ahmed Al Hashmi ◽  
Vivienne Solis-Rivera ◽  
Claudio Baigun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Small Scale Fisheries ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
Fisheries Policy ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Traditional Fishing

Small-scale fisheries provide food security, livelihoods and income to millions of people but their management still presents a challenge to managers and other stakeholders due to problems in gathering suitable information and its incorporation in fisheries policy. Fishers are a key source of knowledge for assessment of both extractive capacity and value in small-scale fisheries, in addition to providing a broad array of cultural knowledge. The increasing recognition of the value of incorporating traditional fishing knowledge in freshwater, riverine, lacustrine and coastal and marine fisheries management is now evident in international conventions and published literature. The purpose of these guidelines is to make it easier for users to recognise and include fishers’ knowledge as an important data stream in resource management. The report includes details on the breadth of knowledge that can be gathered, how it can be gathered, and how this information can be applied to support sustainable fisheries policy and broader applications in society. With case studies from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the Pacific.

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