Habitat mapping is nеcessary for the efficient conservation and protection of marine ecosystems. In addition, it is a requirement for EU Member States as stated in the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), as well as necessary for the achievement and maintenance of 'good environmental status (GES)' of benthic marine habitats in the framework of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC).This study provides baseline information on the marine benthic habitats of Sozopol Bay (Black Sea) and Karpathos and Saria islands (Mediterranean Sea). These two Natura 2000 sites were selected as study sites of the RECONNECT project, which aimed at creating a transnational cooperative network to confront the environmental threats of ecosystems with a high natural and cultural interest, by the establishment of common practices and a joint regional strategy. The specific objective was to map the marine habitats using a defined a priori classification (EUNIS), with the ultimate purpose of supporting government marine spatial planning, management and decision-making processes through the development of a Decision Support System.
Viruses interfere with their host's metabolism through the expression of auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) that, until now, are mostly studied under large physicochemical gradients. Here, we focus on coastal marine ecosystems and we sequence the viral metagenome (virome) of samples with discrete levels of human-driven disturbances. We aim to describe the relevance of viromics with respect to ecological quality status, defined by the classic seawater trophic index (TRIX). Neither viral (family level) nor bacterial (family level, based on 16S rRNA sequencing) community structure correlated with TRIX. AMGs involved in the Calvin and tricarboxylic acid cycles were found at stations with poor ecological quality, supporting viral lysis by modifying the host's energy supply. AMGs involved in "non-traditional" energy-production pathways (3HP, sulfur oxidation) were found irrespective of ecological quality, highlighting the importance of recognizing the prevalent metabolic paths and their intermediate byproducts. Various AMGs explained the variability between stations with poor vs. good ecological quality. Our study confirms the pivotal role of the virome content in ecosystem functioning, acting as a "pool" of available functions that may be transferred to the hosts. Further, it suggests that AMGs could be used as an ultra-sensitive metric of energy-production pathways with relevance in the vulnerable coastal zone and its ecological quality. ; The authors would like to thank the Captain and the crew of R/V Philia as well as Ioanna Kalantzi (ORCID 0000-0002-6539-4739), Eleni Rouselaki, and Irini Tsikopoulou (ORCID 0000-0002-8525-3466) for their help at sea. Eleftheria Papadopoulou (ORCID 0000-0002-4438-4531) and Jon Bent Kristoffersen are thanked for their help during laboratory analyses. Matthew Sullivan (ORCID 0000-0001-8398-8234) and Bonnie Poulos from the Texas University, Pascal Hingamp (ORCID 0000-0002-7463-2444) from the Aix-Marseille Université, and Nigel Grimsley (ORCID 0000-0001-9323-417X) and Hugo Lebredonchel from the Laboratoire Oceanographie de Banuyls sur Mer are especially thanked for their immediate responses during and after sampling expeditions regarding viral DNA collection and sequencing issues. We thank Anna Tsiola for providing professional English editing of the text. Finally, we especially thank the two anonymous reviewers who greatly improved the quality of this manuscript. ; This work was supported by the European Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), the EU FP7 project "MicroB3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, grant agreement ID: 287589)", the project RECONNECT (MIS 5017160) financed by the Transnational Cooperation Programme Interreg V-B "Balkan-Mediterranean 2014-2020" and co-funded by the European Union and national funds of the participating countries and by baseline funding to D.D. (KAUST).
This paper discusses the design and implementation of a citizen science pilot project, COMBER (Citizens' Network for the Observation of Marine BiodivERsity, http://www.comber.hcmr.gr), which has been initiated under the ViBRANT EU e-infrastructure. It is designed and implemented for divers and snorkelers who are interested in participating in marine biodiversity citizen science projects. It shows the necessity of engaging the broader community in the marine biodiversity monitoring and research projects, networks and initiatives. It analyses the stakeholders, the industry and the relevant markets involved in diving activities and their potential to sustain these activities. The principles, including data policy and rewards for the participating divers through their own data, upon which this project is based are thoroughly discussed. The results of the users analysis and lessons learned so far are presented. Future plans include promotion, links with citizen science web developments, data publishing tools, and development of new scientific hypotheses to be tested by the data collected so far.
This paper discusses the design and implementation of a citizen science pilot project, COMBER (Citizens' Network for the Observation of Marine BiodivERsity, http://www.comber.hcmr.gr), which has been initiated under the ViBRANT EU e-infrastructure. It is designed and implemented for divers and snorkelers who are interested in participating in marine biodiversity citizen science projects. It shows the necessity of engaging the broader community in the marine biodiversity monitoring and research projects, networks and initiatives. It analyses the stakeholders, the industry and the relevant markets involved in diving activities and their potential to sustain these activities. The principles, including data policy and rewards for the participating divers through their own data, upon which this project is based are thoroughly discussed. The results of the users analysis and lessons learned so far are presented. Future plans include promotion, links with citizen science web developments, data publishing tools, and development of new scientific hypotheses to be tested by the data collected so far.
20 Pág. ; A mass mortality event (MME) affecting the fan mussel Pinna nobilis was first detected in Spain in autumn 2016 and spread north- and eastward through the Mediterranean Sea. Various pathogens have been blamed for contributing to the MME, with emphasis in Haplosporidium pinnae, Mycobacterium sp. and Vibrio spp. In this study, samples from 762 fan mussels (necropsies from 263 individuals, mantle biopsies from 499) of various health conditions, with wide geographic and age range, taken before and during the MME spread from various environments along Mediterranean Sea, were used to assess the role of pathogens in the MME. The number of samples processed by both histological and molecular methods was 83. The most important factor playing a main role on the onset of the mass mortality of P. nobilis throughout the Mediterranean Sea was the infection by H. pinnae. It was the only non-detected pathogen before the MME while, during MME spreading, its prevalence was higher in sick and dead individuals than in asymptomatic ones, in MME-affected areas than in non-affected sites, and it was not associated with host size, infecting both juveniles and adults. Conversely, infection with mycobacteria was independent from the period (before or during MME), from the affection of the area by MME and from the host health condition, and it was associated with host size. Gram (-) bacteria neither appeared associated with MME. ; This work was funded by: DG Pesca i Medi Mari (GOIB),EsMarEs (order IEO by MITECO, Spanish government), Life UFE IP-PAF INTEMARES (LIFE15 IPE ES 012) "Gestión integrada, innovadora y participativa de la Red Natura 2000 en el medio marino español," the research project "Estado de conservación del bivalvo amenazado Pinna nobilis en el PNAC" (OAPN 024/2010), the project RECONNECT (MIS 5017160) of the Programme Interreg V-B "Balkan-Mediterranean 2014–2020." MTES (French Government), DREAL (Direction Régionale Environnement Aménagement Logement) and Région Occitanie (France) for funding research and ...
49th European Marine Biology Symposium (EMBS) -- SEP 08-12, 2014 -- Saint Petersburg, RUSSIA ; WOS: 000364937700002 ; The degree of development and operability of the indicators for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) using Descriptor 1 (D1) Biological Diversity was assessed. To this end, an overview of the relevance and degree of operability of the underlying parameters across 20 European countries was compiled by analysing national directives, legislation, regulations, and publicly available reports. Marked differences were found between countries in the degree of ecological relevance as well as in the degree of implementation and operability of the parameters chosen to indicate biological diversity. The best scoring EU countries were France, Germany, Greece and Spain, while the worst scoring countries were Italy and Slovenia. No country achieved maximum scores for the implementation of MSFD D1. The non-EU countries Norway and Turkey score as highly as the top-scoring EU countries. On the positive side, the chosen parameters for D1 indicators were generally identified as being an ecologically relevant reflection of Biological Diversity. On the negative side however, less than half of the chosen parameters are currently operational. It appears that at a pan-European level, no consistent and harmonized approach currently exists for the description and assessment of marine biological diversity. The implementation of the MSFD Descriptor 1 for Europe as a whole can therefore at best be marked as moderately successful. ; Russian Acad Sci, Zool Inst ; COST Action ES1003 EMBOS on the Development and Implementation of a Pan-European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System; MARES Grant under the Erasmus Mundus framework [FPA 2011- 0016]; SZN PhD fellowship; Portuguese PhD FCT grant [SFRH/BD/84933/2012] ; Meetings to prepare this paper were made possible by funding through COST Action ES1003 EMBOS on the Development and Implementation of a Pan-European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System. Carlos Castellanos Perez Bolde acknowledges MARES Grant FPA 2011- 0016 under the Erasmus Mundus framework, Marlene Jahnke has been supported by a SZN PhD fellowship, and Joao N. Franco by Portuguese PhD FCT grant SFRH/BD/84933/2012.
13 páginas, 1 figura, 2 tablas. ; The degree of development and operability of the indicators for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) using Descriptor 1 (D1) Biological Diversity was assessed. To this end, an overview of the relevance and degree of operability of the underlying parameters across 20 European countries was compiled by analysing national directives, legislation, regulations, and publicly available reports. Marked differences were found between countries in the degree of ecological relevance as well as in the degree of implementation and operability of the parameters chosen to indicate biological diversity. The best scoring EU countries were France, Germany, Greece and Spain, while the worst scoring countries were Italy and Slovenia. No country achieved maximum scores for the implementation of MSFD D1. The non-EU countries Norway and Turkey score as highly as the top-scoring EU countries. On the positive side, the chosen parameters for D1 indicators were generally identified as being an ecologically relevant reflection of Biological Diversity. On the negative side however, less than half of the chosen parameters are currently operational. It appears that at a pan-European level, no consistent and harmonized approach currently exists for the description and assessment of marine biological diversity. The implementation of the MSFD Descriptor 1 for Europe as a whole can therefore at best be marked as moderately successful. ; Meetings to prepare this paper were made possible by funding through COST Action ES1003 EMBOS on the Development and Implementation of a Pan-European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System. Carlos Castellanos Perez Bolde acknowledges MARES Grant FPA 2011–0016 under the Erasmus Mundus framework, Marlene Jahnke has been supported by a SZN PhD fellowship, and Joa˜o N. Franco by Portuguese PhD FCT grant SFRH/BD/84933/2012. ; Peer reviewed
