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Recent body of evidence demonstrates that extracellular vesicles (EVs) represent the first language of cell-cell communication emerged during evolution. In aquatic environments, transferring signals between cells by EVs offers protection against degradation, allowing delivering of chemical information in high local concentrations to the target cells. The packaging of multiple signals, including those of hydrophobic nature, ensures target cells to receive the same EV-conveyed messages, and the coordination of a variety of physiological processes across cells of a single organisms, or at the population level, i.e., mediating the population's response to changing environmental conditions. Here, we purified EVs from the medium of the freshwater invertebrate Hydra vulgaris, and the molecular profiling by proteomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed multiple markers of the exosome EV subtype, from structural proteins to stress induced messages promoting cell survival. Moreover, positive and negative regulators of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, the major developmental pathway acting in body axial patterning, were identified. Functional analysis on amputated polyps revealed EV ability to modulate both head and foot regeneration, suggesting bioactivity of the EV cargo and opening new perspectives on the mechanisms of developmental signalling. Our results open the path to unravel EV biogenesis and function in all cnidarian species, tracing back the origin of the cell-cell, cross-species or cross-kingdom communication in aquatic ecosystems. ; Proteomic analyses were performed in the Proteomics Platform of Servicios Científico Técnicos del CIBA (IACS-Universidad de Zaragoza), ProteoRed ISCIII member. RNA-seq analyses were performed by Sequentia Biotech S.L. (Barcelona, Spain). The authors acknowledge Mario Isas, Keck School of Medicine of USC Los Angeles, CA, for the kind gift of anti Hydra annexin B12 antibody. GT thanks the MIUR project SHARID-ARS01-01270 for financial support. MMo acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 853468), from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 660228 and from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Ramón y Cajal grant RyC 2019-026860-I. ; Peer reviewed

Special volume: Planet Ocean. Scientia Marina 80(Suppl.1) 2016.-- 10 pages, 8 figures, 1 table ; [EN] Mediterranean Water lenses (meddies) in the eastern North Atlantic, north of the Canary Islands, appear to often have their salty and nutrient-poor core accompanied by relatively fresh and nutrient-rich waters on top. We describe several occurrences of freshwater halos and berets for meddies sampled north of the Canary Islands—with instrumented moorings, Argo floats and oceanographic cruises—and identify the source of these fresh anomalies as diluted Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW). We propose that this capping takes place off Northwest Africa, as the southward-advected meddy interacts with the northward-advected AAIW. This interpretation is consistent with a simple analysis of the relevant advective-diffusive time scales associated with the passage of meddies under a layer of AAIW, and suggests that meddies may be a mechanism for AAIW export far into the North Atlantic Ocean ; [ES] Los Meddies en el Atlántico Norte oriental, al norte de las Islas Canarias, a menudo parecen tener su núcleo salado y pobre en nutrientes acompañado de aguas relativamente frescas y ricas en nutrientes en la parte superior. Se describen varios casos de halos y boinas de agua dulce para meddies muestreados al norte de las Islas Canarias -con instrumentos anclados, perfiladores Argo y campañas oceanográficas- identificando así el origen de estas anomalías frescas como Agua Intermedia Antártica (AIAA) diluida. Proponemos que esta interacción se lleva a cabo en el noroeste de África, cuando el meddy advectado hacia el sur interactúa con el AIAA advectada hacia el norte. Esta interpretación es coherente con un simple análisis de las escalas de tiempo advectivo-difusivas asociadas con el paso de meddies bajo una capa de AIAA, y sugiere que los meddies pueden ser un mecanismo para exportar AIAA hacia el océano interior en el Atlántico Norte ; This work was supported by the projects CANOA (CTM2005-00444/MAR), TIC-MOC (CTM2011-28867) and VA-DE-RETRO (CTM2014-56987-P), funded by the Spanish government. [.] FM was partly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science through the Juan de la Cierva Programme ; Peer Reviewed

© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York. The increasing interest in the development of novel green solvents has led to the synthesis of benign alternative products with minimized environmental impacts. However, most of published studies on green solvents focus primarily on their physicochemical properties, with limited emphasis on absence of ecotoxicological assessment. In this study, we evaluated the acute ecotoxicity of four levulinates (levulinic acid, methyl levulinate, ethyl levulinate and butyl levulinate) on freshwater algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii), bacteria (Vibrio fischeri), daphnids (Daphnia magna) and earthworms (Eisenia foetida) using various dose–response tests. As a general trend, the toxicity of levulinate esters in aquatic exposure (assessed as the EC50) increased as a function of increasing alkyl chain length; accordingly, the most toxic compound for the aquatic organisms was butyl levulinate, followed by ethyl levulinate and methyl levulinate. The most toxic compound for E. foetida (terrestrial exposure) was methyl levulinate, followed by ethyl levulinate, butyl levulinate and levulinic acid; in this case, we observed an inverse relationship between toxicity and alkyl chain length. Based on both the lowest EC50 found in the aquatic media and the ratio between predicted environmental concentration and the predicted no-effect concentration, we have estimated the maximum allowable values in the environment for these chemicals to be 1.093 mg L−1 for levulinic acid, 2.761 mg L−1 for methyl levulinate, 0.982 mg L−1 for ethyl levulinate and 0.151 mg L−1 for butyl levulinate. ; We would like to thank Imerys Ceramics Espan˜a, S.A. for providing artificial soil for the earthworm tests. The researchers L. Lomba, B. Giner and Ma. Rosa Pino are supported by the regional Aragon Government (Consolidated Applied Research Group ref. E02) and European Social Fund ''Construyendo Europa desde Arago´n''. The work of S. Mun˜iz and E. Navarro is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (National Research Plan, ref. BFU2010-22053) and by the regional Aragon Government (Consolidated Applied Research Group ref. E61). Furthermore, Green Pharmacy acknowledges financial support from EEE53 SL. Business groups: Pinares de Venecia Divisio´n Energe´tica and Brial (ENATICA). Finally, we want to thank Dr. Manuel Go´mez (Universidad San Jorge) both for his kind help and for having provided us with useful information ; Peer Reviewed

This study of the Mahavavy-Kinkony Wetland Complex (MKWC) assesses the impacts of habitat change on the resident globally threatened fauna. Located in Boeny Region, northwest Madagascar, the Complex encompasses a range of habitats including freshwater lakes, rivers, marshes, mangrove forests, and deciduous forest. Spatial modelling and analysis tools were used to (i) identify the important habitats for selected, threatened fauna, (ii) assess their change from 1950 to 2005, (iii) detect the causes of change, (iv) simulate changes to 2050 and (v) evaluate the impacts of change. The approach for prioritising potential habitats for threatened species used ecological science techniques assisted by the decision support software Marxan. Nineteen species were analysed: nine birds, three primates, three fish, three bats and one reptile. Based on knowledge of local land use, supervised classification of Landsat images from 2005 was used to classify the land use of the Complex. Simulations of land use change to 2050 were carried out based on the Land Change Modeler module in Idrisi Andes with the neural network algorithm. Changes in land use at site level have occurred over time but they are not significant. However, reductions in the extent of reed marshes at Lake Kinkony and forests at Tsiombikibo and Marofandroboka directly threaten the species that depend on these habitats. Long term change monitoring is recommended for the Mahavavy Delta, in order to evaluate the predictions through time. The future change of Andohaomby forest is of great concern and conservation actions are recommended as a high priority. Abnormal physicochemical properties were detected in lake Kinkony due to erosion of the four watersheds to the south, therefore an anti-erosion management plan is required for these watersheds. Among the species of global conservation concern, Sakalava rail (Amaurornis olivieri), Crowned sifaka (Propithecus coronatus) and dambabe (Paretroplus dambabe) are estimated the most affected, but at the site level Decken's sifaka (Propithecus deckeni), kotsovato (Paretroplus kieneri) and Madagascan big-headed turtle (Erymnochelys madagascariensis) are also threatened. Local enforcement of national legislation on hunting means that MKWC is among the sites where the flying fox (Pteropus rufus) and Madagascan rousette (Rousettus madagascariensis) are well protected. Ecological restoration, ecological research and actions to reduce anthropogenic pressures are recommended.

61 pages, 12 figures, 13 tables ; Molecular lipid biomarkers (hydrocarbons, alcohols, sterols and fatty acids) and compound specific isotope analysis of suspended particulate organic matter (SPM) and surface sediments of the Mackenzie Shelf and slope (Southeast Beaufort Sea, Arctic Ocean), were studied in summer 2009. The concentrations of the molecular lipid markers, characteristic of known organic matter sources, were grouped and used as proxies to evaluate the relative importance of fresh algal, detrital algal, fossil, C3 terrestrial plants, bacterial and zooplankton material in the sedimentary organic matter (OM). Fossil and detrital algal contributions were the major fractions of the freshwater SPM from the Mackenzie River with ~34% each of the total molecular biomarkers. Fresh algal, C3 terrestrial, bacterial and zooplanktonic components represented much lower percentages, 17, 10, 4 and 80%) with a minor contribution of fossil and C3 terrestrial biomarkers. Characterization of the sediments revealed a major sink of refractory algal material mixed with some fresh algal material, fossil hydrocarbons and a small input of C3 terrestrial sources. In particular, the sediments from the shelf and at the mouth of the Amundsen Gulf presented the highest contribution of detrital algal material (60–75%) whereas those from the slope contained the highest proportion of fossil (40%) and C3 terrestrial plant material (10%). Overall, considering that the detrital algal material is marine derived, autochthonous sources contributed more than allochthonous sources to the OM lipid pool. Using the ratio of an allochthonous biomarker (normalized to total organic carbon, TOC) found in the sediments to those measured at the river mouth water, we estimated that the fraction of terrestrial material preserved in the sediments accounted for 30–40% of the total carbon in the inner shelf sediments, 17% in the outer shelf and Amundsen Gulf and up to 25% in the slope sediments ; The IAEA is grateful for the support provided to the Environment Laboratories by the Government of the Principality of Monaco. This study was conducted as part of the Malina Scientific Program funded by ANR (Agence nationale de la recherche), INSU-CNRS (Institut national des sciences de l'univers – Centre national de la recherche scientifique), CNES (Centre national d' etudes spatiales) and ESA (European Space Agency) ; Peer reviewed

Biogeochemistry, Blackwater river, tropical peat, Sumatra (Indonesia). - The most studied tropical blackwater rivers are tributaries of the Orinoco and Amazon such as the Rio Negro in South America. The dark-brown colour of blackwater rivers results from high concentrations of dissolved organic matter that is leached from organic-rich soils within the river drainage basins. The catchment areas of the blackwater rivers in South America are mainly covered by mineral soils (ferralsols), which feature high contents of organic matter in the upper soil horizons. Blackwater rivers in South East Asia by contrast drain catchments that are dominated by organic soils (dystric histosols), commonly referred to as tropical peat. Approximately 83% of the South East Asian peatsoils are located in Indonesia, mainly on the islands Sumatra, Borneo and Irian Jaya and hold ~3% of the global carbon stored in soils. During the last few decades, deforestation and drainage of peat swamp forests have become common land-use practices in Indonesia mainly for the establishment of oil palm estates resulting in the dissolution of Indonesian peatsoils and enhanced CO2-emissons. The main objectives of this work were to investigate potential environmental impacts of land-use changes on the peat-draining Siak River (Central Sumatra) and to assess the role of Indonesian rivers as source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) into the ocean. This work was carried out within the framework of the Indonesian/German cooperation SPICE (Science for the Protection of Indonesian Coastal Marine Ecosystems) and included four expeditions to the Siak River. Collected samples were analysed for dissolved inorganic nutrients, DOC, oxygen and amino acids (Appendix). In addition particulate carbon and nitrogen as well as their isotopic compositions were determined in river, soil and terrestrial plant samples (Appendix). DOC decomposition experiments were carried out and annual freshwater discharges of the Siak were determined by in situ measurements as well as by evaluation of precipitation and evaporation data. Based on geographical information systems (GIS) a digital terrain model was established to provide essential hydrological information on the river catchment. The low nutrient concentrations measured in the Siak relative to other rivers not only in Indonesia but world-wide may be attributed to leaching of nutrient-poor peatlands. Nevertheless, ...

The interdisciplinary research programme « Recreating Nature: rehabilitation, restoration, and creation of ecosystems » was launched by the Ministry in charge of the Environment (Directory of Research) in 1995 , in response to needs identified by practitioners and scientists. Four research questions were addressed: i) motivating factors of those involved, ii) identification of reference systems, iii) relevant spatio-temporal scales, iv) ways of monitoring and assessing restoration projects. Twenty projects have been selected, some concerned with specific degraded ecosystems (coral reefs, islands, grasslands, scrub, forest, wetlands, freshwater) , others concerned with more specifie mitigation measures assisting in the development of large infrastructures (railway lines , ski runs, gravel pits). The programme included sites from continental France, overseas Departments and Territories, and a transboundary site. Successful ecosystem restoration depended on rigorous control of ecological dynamics under various constraints, and included a landscape approach, consideration of the past, and the participation of stakeholder groups. Both social and political will is required, as weil as ecological knowledge. As in the medical sciences , there is an art to nature restoration, with a need for ethical as well as scientific foundations ; Le Programme national de recherche « Recréer la Nature : réhabilitation, restauration et création d'écosystèmes » a été lancé par le Ministère chargé de l'environnement en 1995. Il est centré autour de quatre questions. Quels sont les déterminants des choix et les motivations des intervenants ? Comment sont choisis les systèmes de références ? Quelles sont les échelles spatio-temporelles pertinentes d'action ? Quelles sont les modalités de suivi et d'évaluation de ces interventions ? Les 20 projets sélectionnés sont géographiquement distribués sur l'ensemble du territoire français (métropole et Dom-Tom) et concernent les systèmes humides ou a quatiques, arbustifs ou arborés, herbacés, coralliens ou insulaires, les zones modifiées par l'extraction de granulats ainsi que les différents corridors végétaux bordant les réseaux ferroviaire et autoroutier. Le succès de la restauration des écosystèmes dépend du contrôle rigoureux des dynamiques écologiques sous diverses contraintes. Il exige en outre une a pproche paysagère, prenant en compte la dimension his torique et impliquant l'ensemble des groupes sociaux intéressés. La restauration des écosystèmes relève aussi bien de questions écologiques que socia les et politiques. A l'instar de la démarche médicale, la restauration des écosystèmes doit s'appuyer sur un corpus de connaissancess cientifiques, mais aussi sur une éthique

Freshwater scarcity has increased in the cities of the global South due to rapid urban agglomeration and changing climate. Alternative water resources such as treated wastewater can play a significant role to reduce the water supply-demand gap. In the recent past, wastewater has been used solely for irrigation and other allied agriculture purposes, with limited focus on reuse for other purposes within the cities. Despite the progress in wastewater treatment technology and various policy frameworks, in low income and lower-middle-income countries, limited progress has been made. Through this article, we compare three aspects, representing the wastewater paradigms in India and the Netherlands. The three elements are 1) framing, 2) policy goals, and 3) technical and financial instruments. Using policy document analysis and interviews, we compare water and related policies prepared in India and the Netherlands. We found that the wastewater paradigms have evolved in the two countries. In India, the wastewater paradigms have realized paradigm changes from 'water resource to meet a basic human need' to 'water as an engine of economic growth' and then to 'water scarcity and beautification of cities'. In the case of the Netherlands, the wastewater paradigms have changed from an emphasis on 'public health and environmental concerns' to the 'circular economy of wastewater'. Although the Netherlands has to still meet the water quality targets of the European Water Directive Framework with regards to micropollutants, the country has made significant progress towards wastewater treatment and reuse in the last four decades. On the contrary, the Indian wastewater policy domain has room for improvement in terms of designing appropriate financial instruments and governance strategies to increase the urban wastewater treatment capacity and reuse. This article concludes that the use of the concept of wastewater paradigm is useful to show the progress and challenges in the two countries.

Livestock manure is commonly applied on agricultural land for its fertilising properties. However, the presence of toxic substances in animal manure such as pathogens, antibiotics and heavy metals, can result in damages to ecosystems and human health. To date, although relevant for policy-making, e.g. regulation framing, their releases to agricultural land have been incompletely and inconsistently quantified at global and national scales. Here, we thus developed a generic framework for estimating such releases based on the quantities of manure applied and concentrations of toxic substances. Applying this framework, we built a global release inventory for arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, lead and zinc differentiated into 215 countries and 15years (period 2000-2014). Comparisons with more narrowly-focused inventories showed overall consistency in our inventory results, although a number of uncertainties and limitations were identified. In particular, the need for harmonising sampling and analytical methods for estimating heavy metal contents in manure and generating more country-differentiated data, especially for developing countries, should be prioritised by future research studies. Using life cycle impact assessment methods, it was additionally found that mercury, zinc and copper are the substances contributing the most to the toxic impacts on human health and freshwater ecosystems resulting from manure application to land. While countries such as China, India, Russia, Brazil and the United States of America contributed to half the heavy metal releases from manure application worldwide, the impact intensity per area of agricultural land was observed to be highest for island countries, the European Union and South-East Asia because of higher per-area applications of manure. These findings demonstrate the need to perform country-specific impact assessment to support policy-making regulating the concentrations of toxic substances such as heavy metals in utilised manure.

Invasive non-native species (INS) are species which have moved outside of their natural range, usually with the aid of humans, and are causing environmental or economic damage. At a global level, INS are believed to be one of the most significant causes behind loss of biodiversity – second only to habitat destruction. Their economic impact is also substantial. A recent study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) estimated that INS cost Europe in the region of 12 billion Euros every year. Despite the severe damage these species are causing, there is little in the way of a coordinated effort to reduce their impact and spread across Europe. Over recent years a number of projects have sought to improve the management of INS across the Two Seas region, by bringing together research institutes, universities, local government, land managers, businesses and other relevant stakeholders to form cross-border partnerships. RINSE (Reducing the Impact of Non-native Species In Europe) focussed primarily on INS within freshwater and terrestrial habitats. It undertook a broad range of activities in order to share best practice across the region, develop new ways to manage INS, improve the capacity of local organisations to manage INS, prioritise INS already present in the region for action and identify species likely to cause problems in the near future. The MEMO (Mnemiopsis Ecology, Modelling and Observation) partnership was composed of experts in marine INS and focussed on one species in particular – the American comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi. This invasive jellyfish-like species was accidentally introduced to the Two Seas region and has since spread along the coasts of northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands. MEMO undertook a range of activities to assess awareness and perceptions of the jelly amongst key stakeholder groups and to increase our scientific knowledge on this species. Invexo aimed to improve the management of four of the most damaging INS in Belgium and the Netherlands. The project used field trials to improve control and eradication methods and developed an early warning system for high risk INS in the project area. Discussions between partners from the RINSE, MEMO and Invexo projects indicated that added value could be created through the formation of a 'cluster' project, bringing together the expertise and the experiences gained from each of the three projects. As a consequence, SEFINS (Safeguarding the Environment From Invasive Non-native Species) was established in January 2014. Since then, the partnership has held a number of constructive workshops and meetings on the topic of INS. It was clear that despite each project working on different species in different habitats, there was a large degree of crossover. A number of key themes emerged, which the partnership agreed require further work in order to allow EU Member States to meet the new requirements of the upcoming European Regulation on Invasive Species: 1) Knowledge transfer, training and advice 2) Data and inventories 3) Risk management and impact assessments 4) Citizen science and awareness raising This publication uses these key themes as chapters, describing in more detail the activities carried out by RINSE, MEMO and Invexo within these areas. Key outputs are summarised, outlining the significant progress made by the SEFINS partners and their previous projects towards the effective management of INS across the Two Seas area. However, there is clearly much work still to be done – this publication will also look forwards, outlining where we believe work on INS should focus in the immediate future.

Invasive non-native species (INS) are species which have moved outside of their natural range, usually with the aid of humans, and are causing environmental or economic damage. At a global level, INS are believed to be one of the most significant causes behind loss of biodiversity – second only to habitat destruction. Their economic impact is also substantial. A recent study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) estimated that INS cost Europe in the region of 12 billion Euros every year. Despite the severe damage these species are causing, there is little in the way of a coordinated effort to reduce their impact and spread across Europe. Over recent years a number of projects have sought to improve the management of INS across the Two Seas region, by bringing together research institutes, universities, local government, land managers, businesses and other relevant stakeholders to form cross-border partnerships. RINSE (Reducing the Impact of Non-native Species In Europe) focussed primarily on INS within freshwater and terrestrial habitats. It undertook a broad range of activities in order to share best practice across the region, develop new ways to manage INS, improve the capacity of local organisations to manage INS, prioritise INS already present in the region for action and identify species likely to cause problems in the near future. The MEMO (Mnemiopsis Ecology, Modelling and Observation) partnership was composed of experts in marine INS and focussed on one species in particular – the American comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi. This invasive jellyfish-like species was accidentally introduced to the Two Seas region and has since spread along the coasts of northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands. MEMO undertook a range of activities to assess awareness and perceptions of the jelly amongst key stakeholder groups and to increase our scientific knowledge on this species. Invexo aimed to improve the management of four of the most damaging INS in Belgium and the Netherlands. The project used field trials to improve control and eradication methods and developed an early warning system for high risk INS in the project area. Discussions between partners from the RINSE, MEMO and Invexo projects indicated that added value could be created through the formation of a 'cluster' project, bringing together the expertise and the experiences gained from each of the three projects. As a consequence, SEFINS (Safeguarding the Environment From Invasive Non-native Species) was established in January 2014. Since then, the partnership has held a number of constructive workshops and meetings on the topic of INS. It was clear that despite each project working on different species in different habitats, there was a large degree of crossover. A number of key themes emerged, which the partnership agreed require further work in order to allow EU Member States to meet the new requirements of the upcoming European Regulation on Invasive Species: 1) Knowledge transfer, training and advice 2) Data and inventories 3) Risk management and impact assessments 4) Citizen science and awareness raising This publication uses these key themes as chapters, describing in more detail the activities carried out by RINSE, MEMO and Invexo within these areas. Key outputs are summarised, outlining the significant progress made by the SEFINS partners and their previous projects towards the effective management of INS across the Two Seas area. However, there is clearly much work still to be done – this publication will also look forwards, outlining where we believe work on INS should focus in the immediate future.

The threat posed by invasive non-native species worldwide requires a global approach to identify which introduced species are likely to pose an elevated risk of impact to native species and ecosystems. To inform policy, stakeholders and management decisions on global threats to aquatic ecosystems, 195 assessors representing 120 risk assessment areas across all six inhabited continents screened 819 non-native species from 15 groups of aquatic organisms (freshwater, brackish, marine plants and animals) using the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit. This multi-lingual decision-support tool for the risk screening of aquatic organisms provides assessors with risk scores for a species under current and future climate change conditions that, following a statistically based calibration, permits the accurate classification of species into high-, medium- and low-risk categories under current and predicted climate conditions. The 1730 screenings undertaken encompassed wide geographical areas (regions, political entities, parts thereof, water bodies, river basins, lake drainage basins, and marine regions), which permitted thresholds to be identified for almost all aquatic organismal groups screened as well as for tropical, temperate and continental climate classes, and for tropical and temperate marine ecoregions. In total, 33 species were identified as posing a 'very high risk' of being or becoming invasive, and the scores of several of these species under current climate increased under future climate conditions, primarily due to their wide thermal tolerances. The risk thresholds determined for taxonomic groups and climate zones provide a basis against which area-specific or climate-based calibrated thresholds may be interpreted. In turn, the risk rankings help decision-makers identify which species require an immediate 'rapid' management action (e.g. eradication, control) to avoid or mitigate adverse impacts, which require a full risk assessment, and which are to be restricted or banned with regard to importation and/or sale as ornamental or aquarium/fishery enhancement. ; This study is dedicated to our co-author, the late Prof. Olaf Weyl, whose sudden passing during field work in November 2020 was received by us with great sadness. This study represents a contribution to the term of reference 'd' ("Advance knowledge base to further develop indicators to evaluate the status and impact of non-indigenous species in marine environments") of the ICES working group on Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms. The participation of GHC was supported by the Cefas Science Excellence fund. AW and ÁF were supported by TKP2020-NKA-16 project.

Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including important synonyms) of all extant multicellular European terrestrial and freshwater animals and their geographical distribution at the level of countries and major islands (east of the Urals and excluding the Caucasus region). The Fauna Europaea project comprises about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies, which is much more than the originally projected number of 100,000 species. Fauna Europaea represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing taxonomic specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many user communities in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. The Diptera-Brachycera is one of the 58 Fauna Europaea major taxonomic groups, and data have been compiled by a network of 55 specialists. Within the two-winged insects (Diptera), the Brachycera constitute a monophyletic group, which is generally given rank of suborder. The Brachycera may be classified into the probably paraphyletic 'lower brachyceran grade' and the monophyletic Eremoneura. The latter contains the Empidoidea, the Apystomyioidea with a single Nearctic species, and the Cyclorrhapha, which in turn is divided into the paraphyletic 'aschizan grade' and the monophyletic Schizophora. The latter is traditionally divided into the paraphyletic 'acalyptrate grade' and the monophyletic Calyptratae. Our knowledge of the European fauna of Diptera-Brachycera varies tremendously among families, from the reasonably well known hoverflies (Syrphidae) to the extremely poorly known scuttle flies (Phoridae). There has been a steady growth in our knowledge of European Diptera for the last two centuries, with no apparent slow down, but there is a shift towards a larger fraction of the new species being found among the families of the nematoceran grade (lower Diptera), which due to a larger number of small-sized species may be considered as taxonomically more challenging. Most of Europe is highly industrialised and has a high human population density, and the more fertile habitats are extensively cultivated. This has undoubtedly increased the extinction risk for numerous species of brachyceran flies, yet with the recent re-discovery of Thyreophoracynophila (Panzer), there are no known cases of extinction at a European level. However, few national Red Lists have extensive information on Diptera. For the Diptera-Brachycera, data from 96 families containing 11,751 species are included in this paper.

Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including important synonyms) of all extant multicellular European terrestrial and freshwater animals and their geographical distribution at the level of countries and major islands (east of the Urals and excluding the Caucasus region). The Fauna Europaea project comprises about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies, which is much more than the originally projected number of 100,000 species. Fauna Europaea represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing taxonomic specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many user communities in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. The Diptera–Brachycera is one of the 58 Fauna Europaea major taxonomic groups, and data have been compiled by a network of 55 specialists. Within the two-winged insects (Diptera), the Brachycera constitute a monophyletic group, which is generally given rank of suborder. The Brachycera may be classified into the probably paraphyletic 'lower brachyceran grade' and the monophyletic Eremoneura. The latter contains the Empidoidea, the Apystomyioidea with a single Nearctic species, and the Cyclorrhapha, which in turn is divided into the paraphyletic 'aschizan grade' and the monophyletic Schizophora. The latter is traditionally divided into the paraphyletic 'acalyptrate grade' and the monophyletic Calyptratae. Our knowledge of the European fauna of Diptera–Brachycera varies tremendously among families, from the reasonably well known hoverflies (Syrphidae) to the extremely poorly known scuttle flies (Phoridae). There has been a steady growth in our knowledge of European Diptera for the last two centuries, with no apparent slow down, but there is a shift towards a larger fraction of the new species being found among the families of the nematoceran grade (lower Diptera), which due to a larger number of small-sized species may be considered as taxonomically more challenging. Most of Europe is highly industrialised and has a high human population density, and the more fertile habitats are extensively cultivated. This has undoubtedly increased the extinction risk for numerous species of brachyceran flies, yet with the recent re-discovery of Thyreophora cynophila (Panzer), there are no known cases of extinction at a European level. However, few national Red Lists have extensive information on Diptera. For the Diptera–Brachycera, data from 96 families containing 11,751 species are included in this paper.

During the last decades, the number of ponds decreased by more than 50 % in European countries, occasionally reaching up to 90 % in some regions. Their decline in number has led to a strong loss of connectivity between waterbodies. Yet, these small and scattered ecosystems are essential for the life cycle of a high diversity of freshwater species. Land use policies like the creation of Greenways and Blueways in France aim to improve ecological continuities to allow maintenance of existent biological populations and exchanges between them. However, the connectivity between ponds must be considered according to the dispersal abilities of freshwater species and this information often lacks to guide restoration measures. In the present work, we studied the dispersal abilities of dragonflies on several spatial scales and investigated the biological traits and environmental factors that shaped their movements. In the first part, we evaluated the colonization of 20 ponds in Normandy by dragonflies during three years after pond restoration or pond creation. The results highlight high colonization rates during the first year and no difference in species richness was found between newly created or restored ponds. This suggests that restoration of ponds after complete drought should not always be prioritized over pond creation in management strategies. We found that generalist species were more present in the first year after pond creation or restoration, whereas the occurrence of forest specialists increased with the age of the pond. The results also highlighted that the landscape context around ponds (i.e. forest vs. open lands) had an effect on the composition of dragonfly communities. Finally, the total abundance of odonate species was related to the density of other ponds in the surroundings. This result emphasizes that highly connected ponds can support larger populations than isolated ones and thus, be more resilient to perturbations. The second part provides insights into the larval development of Anax imperator and the relationship between morphological traits of larvae and adults. The results suggest that the survival of this species might depend on its body length during the maturation period. We also tried to study the natal dispersal by marking 87 individuals at emergence, but only two males were resighted after the maturation period. Finally, the effect of two water pollutants (i.e. Round-up and DEET) at different concentrations was also investigated on the larval development and adults of Aeshna cyanea. Larvae were reared under laboratory conditions and exposed to concentrations up to 30 mg.L-1 of the two pollutants. No effect of the pollutants was detected on the morphological conditions of larvae or tenerals, suggesting that A. cyanea is tolerant to potential water pollution of ponds. The level of HSP70 stress protein was also similar according to the different treatments, but teneral adults presented higher levels of stress than larvae, suggesting that emergence induced a high stress in the individuals. The third part focuses on the dispersal of A. imperator. We first assessed the local movements within a pond network in the Normandy region. ; Au cours des dernières décennies, le nombre de mares a connu un déclin de plus de 50 % dans les pays européens, atteignant parfois jusqu'à 90 % dans certaines régions. Cette diminution a entraîné une forte perte de connectivité entre les mares. Pourtant, ces écosystèmes petits et dispersés sont essentiels au cycle de vie d'une grande diversité d'espèces d'eau douce. Les politiques d'aménagement du territoire, comme la création des Trames Vertes et Bleues en France, visent à améliorer les continuités écologiques pour permettre le maintien des populations existantes et les échanges entre elles. Cependant, les études de connectivité entre les mares doivent prendre en compte les capacités de dispersion des espèces et cette information fait souvent défaut pour orienter les mesures de restauration. Dans le présent travail, nous avons étudié les capacités de dispersion des libellules à plusieurs échelles spatiales ainsi que les caractéristiques biologiques et les facteurs environnementaux qui façonnent leurs mouvements. Dans la première partie, nous avons évalué la colonisation par les libellules de 20 mares normandes pendant les trois années suivant leur création ou leur restauration. Les résultats mettent en évidence des taux de colonisation élevés pendant la première année et aucune différence de richesse spécifique n'a été constatée entre les mares nouvellement créées ou restaurées. Cela suggère que la restauration des mares après un assèchement total ne devrait pas toujours être prioritaire par rapport à la création de nouvelles mares dans les stratégies de gestion. Nous avons constaté que les espèces généralistes étaient davantage présentes la première année après la création ou la restauration des mares, alors que la présence d'espèces spécialistes des forêts augmentait avec l'âge du plan d'eau. Les résultats ont également mis en évidence que le contexte paysager autour des mares (i.e. milieu forestier ou ouvert) avait un effet sur la composition des communautés de libellules. Enfin, l'abondance totale des espèces d'odonates était liée à la densité des plans d'eau alentours. Ce résultat souligne que les mares très connectées peuvent abriter des populations plus importantes que les mares isolées et donc être plus résistantes aux perturbations. La deuxième partie fournit des éléments sur le développement larvaire d'Anax imperator et la relation entre les caractéristiques morphologiques des larves et des adultes. Les résultats suggèrent que la survie de cette espèce pendant la période de maturation pourrait dépendre de la longueur des individus. Nous avons également essayé d'étudier la dispersion natale en marquant 87 individus à l'émergence, mais seuls deux mâles ont été retrouvés après la période de maturation. Enfin, l'effet de deux polluants de l'eau (Round-up et DEET) sur le développement larvaire et les adultes d'Aeshna cyanea a également été étudié à différentes concentrations. Les larves ont été élevées dans des conditions de laboratoire et exposées à des concentrations allant jusqu'à 30 mg.L-1 des deux polluants. Aucun effet des polluants sur les conditions morphologiques des larves ou des ténéraux n'a été détecté, ce qui suggère que A. cyanea est une espèce tolérante aux potentielles pollutions de l'eau dans les mares. Le niveau de la protéine de stress HSP70 était également similaire selon les différents traitements, mais les adultes ténéraux présentaient des niveaux de stress plus élevés que les larves, ce qui suggère que l'émergence a provoqué un stress élevé chez les individus.