9 pages, 5 figures, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12341 ; Understanding the drivers of restoration success is a central issue for marine conservation. Here, we explore the role of life‐history strategies of sessile marine species in shaping restoration outcomes and their associated timescales. A transplantation experiment for the extremely slow‐growing and threatened octocoral Corallium rubrum was highly successful over a relatively short term due to high survival and reproductive potential of the transplanted colonies. However, demographic projections predict that from 30 to 40 years may be required for fully functional C. rubrum populations to develop. More broadly, a comprehensive meta‐analysis revealed a negative correlation between survival after transplanting and growth rates among sessile species. As a result, simulated dynamics for a range of marine sessile invertebrates predict that longer recovery times are positively associated with survival rates. These results demonstrate a tradeoff between initial transplantation efforts and the speed of recovery. Transplantation of slow‐growing species will tend to require lower initial effort due to higher survival after transplanting, but the period required to fully recover habitat complexity will tend to be far longer. This study highlights the important role of life history as a driver of marine restoration outcomes and shows how demographic knowledge and modeling tools can help managers to anticipate the dynamics and timescales of restored populations ; Funding was provided by the Spanish MINECO (CTM2009-08045 and CGL2012-32194), the Oak Foundation, the TOTAL Foundation Perfect Project, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 689518 (MERCES). [.] IMS was supported by a FPI grant (BES-2013-066150), CL by a Ramon y Cajal (RyC-2011-08134), and JBL by a Postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/74400/2010). Authors are part of the Medrecover group (2014SGR1297) ; Peer Reviewed
9 pages, 7 figures, supplementary information https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36094-9 ; Climate change threatens the structure and function of marine ecosystems, highlighting the importance of understanding the response of species to changing environmental conditions. However, thermal tolerance determining the vulnerability to warming of many abundant marine species is still poorly understood. In this study, we quantified in the field the effects of a temperature anomaly recorded in the Mediterranean Sea during the summer of 2015 on populations of two common sympatric bryozoans, Myriapora truncata and Pentapora fascialis. Then, we experimentally assessed their thermal tolerances in aquaria as well as different sublethal responses to warming. Differences between species were found in survival patterns in natural populations, P. fascialis showing significantly lower survival rates than M. truncata. The thermotolerance experiments supported field observations: P. fascialis started to show signs of necrosis when the temperature was raised to 25–26 °C and completely died between 28–29 °C, coinciding with the temperature when we observed first signs of necrosis in M. truncata. The results from this study reflect different responses to warming between these two co-occurring species, highlighting the importance of combining multiple approaches to assess the vulnerability of benthic species in a changing climate world ; This study was partially funded by the "Parc Natural del Montgrí, Illes Medes i Baix Ter" and the "Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat" of the Catalan Government project, the SMART project (CGL2012-32194) and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 689518 (MERCES). This output reflects only the author's view and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained M.P.E was supported by an APIF grant (APIF2016), I.M.S by an FPI grant (BES-2013-066150), D.G.G by an FPU grant (FPU15/05457) and B.F by a SENACYT & STRI Postdoctoral Fellow (47-2017-4-FID16-239) ; Peer Reviewed
Rationale: Body composition changes throughout life may explain the inconsistent associations reported between body mass index and lung function in children. Objectives: To assess the associations of body weight and composition trajectories from 7 to 15 years with lung function at 15 years and lung function growth between 8 and 15 years. Methods: Sex-specific body mass index, lean body mass index, and fat mass index trajectories were developed using Group-Based Trajectory Modeling on data collected at least twice between 7 and 15 years from 6,964 children (49% boys) in the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children birth cohort. Associations of these trajectories with post-bronchodilation lung function parameters at 15 years and with lung function growth rates from 8 to 15 years were assessed using multivariable linear regression models, stratified by sex, in a subgroup with lung function data (n = 3,575). Measurements and Main Results: For all body mass measures we identified parallel trajectories that increased with age. There was no consistent evidence of an association between the body mass index trajectories and lung function measures. Higher lean body mass index trajectories were associated with higher levels and growth rates of FVC, FEV1, and forced expiratory flow, midexpiratory phase in both sexes (e.g., boys in the highest lean body mass index trajectory had on average a 0.62 L [95% confidence interval, 0.44-0.79; P trend < 0.0001] higher FVC at 15 yr than boys in the lowest trajectory). Increasing fat mass index trajectories were associated with lower levels and growth rates of FEV1 and forced expiratory flow, midexpiratory phase only in boys and lower levels of FEV1/FVC in both sexes. Conclusions: Higher lean body mass during childhood and adolescence is consistently associated with higher lung function at 15 years in both sexes, whereas higher fat mass is associated with lower levels of only some lung function parameters. ; The present analyses are part of the ALEC (Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts) Study (www.alecstudy.org), which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 633212. The content of this article reflects only the authors' views, and the European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust (grant reference number: 102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. A comprehensive list of grant funding is available on the ALSPAC website (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/external/documents/grant-acknowledgements.pdf). Specifically, grants from Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council (076467/Z/05/Z and G0401540/73080) supported the collection of body composition and lung function data at 15 years. E.F. is supported by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015; proposal number 704268). C.R. is the recipient of a European Respiratory Society Fellowship (RESPIRE3-201703-00127, under H2020—Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND).
Background: Although physical activity has many known health benefits, its association with lung function in childhood/adolescence remains unclear. We examined the association of physical-activity trajectories between 11 and 15 years with lung function at 15 years in 2266 adolescents. Methods: A population-based cohort of 14 305 singleton births alive at 1 year was recruited in the UK population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. Physical activity (counts/minute and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) was assessed for 7 days using an accelerometer at 11, 13 and 15 years. We identified sex-specific physical-activity trajectories applying K-means for longitudinal data in children with at least two accelerometer measurements (n = 3584). We then estimated the sex-specific associations of these trajectories with post-bronchodilation lung-function parameters using multivariable linear-regression models (n = 2266, 45% boys). Results: Fewer than 7% of participants met the WHO physical-activity recommendations (i.e. daily average of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity). Boys were substantially more active than girls. In both sexes, we identified three distinct physical-activity trajectories ('low': 39.8% boys, 45.8% girls; 'moderate': 42.9% boys, 41.4% girls; and 'high' physical activity: 17.3% boys, 12.8% girls). Girls in the moderate and high physical-activity trajectories had 0.11 L [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04-0.19] and 0.15 L (95% CI: 0.03-0.26) higher forced vital capacity than their less-active peers. No association was observed in boys. Conclusions: Higher childhood physical activity relates to higher lung-function levels in adolescent girls. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this association should be pursued. ; The present analyses are part of the Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts (ALEC) Study (www.alecstudy.org), which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 633212). The UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust (grant: 102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol provide core support for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Elaine Fuertes is supported by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015; proposal number 704268). Célina Roda is the recipient of a European Respiratory Society Fellowship (RESPIRE3-201703–00127, under H2020—Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions COFUND). These funders did not have any role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; preparation, review or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
15 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, supplementary material https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.633057/full#supplementary-material.-- Data Availability Statement:The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s ; Marine protected areas (MPAs) are one of the most efficient conservation tools to buffer marine biodiversity loss induced by human activities. Beside effective enforcement, an accurate understanding of the eco-evolutionary processes underlying the patterns of biodiversity is needed to reap the benefits of management policies. In this context, integrating population genetics with demographic data, the demo-genetic approach, is particularly relevant to shift from a "species-based pattern" toward an "eco-evolutionary-based processes" conservation. Here, targeting a key species in the Mediterranean coralligenous, the red coral, Corallium rubrum, in an emblematic Mediterranean MPA, the "Réserve Naturelle de Scandola" (France), we applied demo-genetic approaches at two contrasted spatial scales, among populations and within one population, to (i) infer the demographic connectivity among populations in the metapopulation network and (ii) shed new light on the genetic connectivity and on the demographic transitions underlying the dynamics of a near-pristine population. Integrating different spatial and temporal scales, we demonstrated (i) an apparent temporal stability in the pattern of genetic diversity and structure in the MPA in spite of a dramatic demographic decline and (ii) contrasted levels of genetic isolation but substantial demographic connectivity among populations. Focusing on the near-pristine population, we complemented the characterization of red coral demographic connectivity suggesting (iii) temporal variability and (iv) the occurrence of collective dispersal. In addition, we demonstrated (v) contrasted patterns of spatial genetic structure (SGS), depending on the considered stage-class (adults vs. juveniles), in the near-pristine population. This last result points out that the overall SGS resulted from a restricted dispersal of locally produced juveniles (SGS among adults and juveniles) combined to mortality during early life stages (decrease of SGS from juveniles to adults). Demonstrating the occurrence of two management units and the importance of two populations (CAVB and ALE) for the network of connectivity, we made recommendations for the management of the Réserve Naturelle de Scandola. Besides, we contributed to the implementation of scientifically driven restoration protocols in red coral by providing estimates for the size, density, and distances among patches of transplanted colonies ; This research was supported by the Strategic Funding UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 through national funds provided by the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the program PT2020, the Spanish MINECO (CGL2012-32194), the TOTAL Foundation PERFECT project, the MIMOSA project funded by the foundation Prince Albert II de Monaco, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement N° 689518 (MERCES). [.] J-BL was funded by an assistant researcher contract framework of the RD Unit—UID/Multi/04423/2019 – Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research—financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through COMPETE2020 – Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). Genotyping was performed at the Genome Transcriptome Facility of Bordeaux (grants from the Conseil Régional d'Aquitaine n 20030304002FA and 20040305003FA, from the European Union FEDER n 2003227 and from Investissements d'Avenir ANR-10-EQPX-16-01). This work acknowledges the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S). We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI) ; Peer reviewed
Este artículo contiene 13 páginas, 1 tabla, 5 figuras. ; Climate change threatens coastal benthic communities on a global scale. However, the potential effects of ongoing warming on mesophotic temperate reefs at the community level remain poorly understood. Investigating how different members of these communities will respond to the future expected environmental conditions is, therefore, key to anticipating their future trajectories and developing specific management and conservation strategies. Here, we examined the responses of some of the main components of the highly diverse Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages to thermal stress. We performed thermotolerance experiments with different temperature treatments (from 26 to 29°C) with 10 species from different phyla (three anthozoans, six sponges and one ascidian) and different structural roles. Overall, we observed species‐specific contrasting responses to warming regardless of phyla or growth form. Moreover, the responses ranged from highly resistant species to sensitive species and were mostly in agreement with previous field observations from mass mortality events (MMEs) linked to Mediterranean marine heat waves. Our results unravel the diversity of responses to warming in coralligenous outcrops and suggest the presence of potential winners and losers in the face of climate change. Finally, this study highlights the importance of accounting for species‐specific vulnerabilities and response diversity when forecasting the future trajectories of temperate benthic communities in a warming ocean. ; the funding support of Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales (CORCLIM 759S/2012 and 766S/2012), the TOTAL foundation (CLIMCARES project), the Prince Albert II de Monaco Foundation (MIMOSA project n° 1983), the MPA‐ADAPT project, the Interreg MED Program (European Regional Development Fund), and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 689518 (MERCES). D.G.G. was supported by an FPU grant (FPU15/05457) from the Spanish Ministry of Education, M.P.E. by an APIF‐2016 and I.M.S. by an FPI grant (BES‐2013‐066150). The authors are part of the Marine Conservation research group (www. medrecover.org) (2017 SGR 1521) from the Generalitat de Catalunya. ; Peer reviewed
10 pages, 4 figures, supplemental material https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/suppl/10.1098/rspb.2021.2384.-- Data accessibility: All data and code supporting the results are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.18931zczk ; Understanding the resilience of temperate reefs to climate change requires exploring the recovery capacity of their habitat-forming species from recurrent marine heatwaves (MHWs). Here, we show that, in a Mediterranean highly enforced marine protected area established more than 40 years ago, habitat-forming octocoral populations that were first affected by a severe MHW in 2003 have not recovered after 15 years. Contrarily, they have followed collapse trajectories that have brought them to the brink of local ecological extinction. Since 2003, impacted populations of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826) and the red coral Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus, 1758) have followed different trends in terms of size structure, but a similar progressive reduction in density and biomass. Concurrently, recurrent MHWs were observed in the area during the 2003–2018 study period, which may have hindered populations recovery. The studied octocorals play a unique habitat-forming role in the coralligenous assemblages (i.e. reefs endemic to the Mediterranean Sea home to approximately 10% of its species). Therefore, our results underpin the great risk that recurrent MHWs pose for the long-term integrity and functioning of these emblematic temperate reefs ; We acknowledge the 'Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence' (CEX2019–000928-S) funding, the MCIU/AEI/FEDER [HEATMED; RTI2018-095346-B-I00], Interreg-Med Programme (5216 | 5MED18_3.2_M23_007 and 1MED15_3.2_M2_337), Foundation Prince Albert II Monaco [MIMOSA], the TOTAL-Foundation [Perfect] and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant nos. 689518 and SEP-210597628). D.G.-G. is supported by a FPU15/05457 grant. C.L. acknowledges the support of ICREA. J.B.L is supported by the strategic Funding [UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020]. N.T. received funding by the French National Research Agency-Make Our Planet Great Again [4Oceans-MOPGA and ANR-17-MPGA-0001]. D.K.K. is supported by a IJCI-2017-31457. D.G.-G., C.L., J.B.L., E.C., P.L.-S., D.K.K. and J.G. are part of the Medrecover group [2017 SGR 1521] ; Peer reviewed
Este artículo contiene 10 páginas, 4 figuras. ; Understanding the resilience of temperate reefs to climate change requires exploring the recovery capacity of their habitat-forming species from recurrent marine heatwaves (MHWs). Here, we show that, in a Mediterranean highly enforced marine protected area established more than 40 years ago, habitat-forming octocoral populations that were first affected by a severe MHW in 2003 have not recovered after 15 years. Contrarily, they have followed collapse trajectories that have brought them to the brink of local ecological extinction. Since 2003, impacted populations of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826) and the red coral Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus, 1758) have followed different trends in terms of size structure, but a similar progressive reduction in density and biomass. Concurrently, recurrent MHWs were observed in the area during the 2003–2018 study period, which may have hindered populations recovery. The studied octocorals play a unique habitat-forming role in the coralligenous assemblages (i.e. reefs endemic to the Mediterranean Sea home to approximately 10% of its species). Therefore, our results underpin the great risk that recurrent MHWs pose for the long-term integrity and functioning of these emblematic temperate reefs. ; We acknowledge the 'Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence' (CEX2019–000928-S) funding, the MCIU/AEI/FEDER [HEATMED; RTI2018-095346-B-I00], Interreg-Med Programme (5216 | 5MED18_ 3.2_M23_007 and 1MED15_3.2_M2_337), Foundation Prince Albert II Monaco [MIMOSA], the TOTAL-Foundation [Perfect] and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant nos. 689518 and SEP-210597628). D.G.-G. is supported by a FPU15/05457 grant. C.L. acknowledges the support of ICREA. J.B.L is supported by the strategic Funding [UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020]. N.T. received funding by the French National Research Agency-Make Our Planet Great Again [4Oceans-MOPGA and ANR-17-MPGA-0001]. D.K.K. is supported by a IJCI-2017- 31457. D.G.-G., C.L., J.B.L., E.C., P.L.-S., D.K.K. and J.G. are part of the Medrecover group [2017 SGR 1521]. ; Peer reviewed
14 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, supplementary material https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.626843/full#supplementary-material ; Restoration is considered an effective strategy to accelerate the recovery of biological communities at local scale. However, the effects of restoration actions in the marine ecosystems are still unpredictable. We performed a global analysis of published literature to identify the factors increasing the probability of restoration success in coastal and marine systems. Our results confirm that the majority of active restoration initiatives are still concentrated in the northern hemisphere and that most of information gathered from restoration efforts derives from a relatively small subset of species. The analysis also indicates that many studies are still experimental in nature, covering small spatial and temporal scales. Despite the limits of assessing restoration effectiveness in absence of a standardized definition of success, the context (degree of human impact, ecosystem type, habitat) of where the restoration activity is undertaken is of greater relevance to a successful outcome than how (method) the restoration is carried out. Contrary to expectations, we found that restoration is not necessarily more successful closer to protected areas (PA) and in areas of moderate human impact. This result can be motivated by the limits in assessing the success of interventions and by the tendency of selecting areas in more obvious need of restoration, where the potential of actively restoring a degraded site is more evident. Restoration sites prioritization considering human uses and conservation status present in the region is of vital importance to obtain the intended outcomes and galvanize further actions. ; Research funded by the EU project MERCES of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research (Grant agreement No. 689518, http://www.merces-project.eu). ; Research funded by the EU project MERCES of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research (Grant agreement No. 689518, http://www.merces-project.eu) ; Peer reviewed
Restoration is considered an effective strategy to accelerate the recovery of biological communities at local scale. However, the effects of restoration actions in the marine ecosystems are still unpredictable. We performed a global analysis of published literature to identify the factors increasing the probability of restoration success in coastal and marine systems. Our results confirm that the majority of active restoration initiatives are still concentrated in the northern hemisphere and that most of information gathered from restoration efforts derives from a relatively small subset of species. The analysis also indicates that many studies are still experimental in nature, covering small spatial and temporal scales. Despite the limits of assessing restoration effectiveness in absence of a standardized definition of success, the context (degree of human impact, ecosystem type, habitat) of where the restoration activity is undertaken is of greater relevance to a successful outcome than how (method) the restoration is carried out. Contrary to expectations, we found that restoration is not necessarily more successful closer to protected areas (PA) and in areas of moderate human impact. This result can be motivated by the limits in assessing the success of interventions and by the tendency of selecting areas in more obvious need of restoration, where the potential of actively restoring a degraded site is more evident. Restoration sites prioritization considering human uses and conservation status present in the region is of vital importance to obtain the intended outcomes and galvanize further actions ; Research funded by the EU project MERCES of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research (Grant agreement No. 689518