Conserving the beauty of the world's reef fish assemblages.

On shallow rocky and coral reefs, cultural and recreational values, like aesthetics, are critical aspects of Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) that support human well-being and provide billions of dollars in tourism revenue. Quantifying the aesthetic value of reef ecosystems and uncovering the conditions that enhance it could support NCP-based management. Here, we combine a global dataset of reef fish surveys, species-level aesthetic values, and causal modeling to assess the global status and drivers of reef fish assemblage aesthetic value.

A Multimarker Approach to Identify Microbial Bioindicators for Coral Reef Health Monitoring-Case Study in La Réunion Island.

The marine microbiome arouses an increasing interest, aimed at better understanding coral reef biodiversity, coral resilience, and identifying bioindicators of ecosystem health. The present study is a microbiome mining of three environmentally contrasted sites along the Hermitage fringing reef of La Réunion Island (Western Indian Ocean). This mining aims to identify bioindicators of reef health to assist managers in preserving the fringing reefs of La Réunion.

Marked spatial heterogeneity of macro-benthic communities along a shallow-mesophotic depth gradient in Reunion Island.

Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) have gained considerable attention this last decade but the paucity of knowledge on these ecosystems is pronounced, particularly in the Southwestern Indian Ocean region. We explore the spatial variation in macro-benthic and scleractinian communities along a wide depth gradient (15-95 m) and among contrasted sites around Reunion Island. Values for percent cover of macro-benthic and scleractinian communities varied significantly along depth, resulting in a vertical zonation of communities.

Low human interest for the most at-risk reef fishes worldwide.

Human interest in biodiversity is essential for effective conservation action but remains poorly quantified at large scales. Here, we investigated human interest for 2408 marine reef fishes using data obtained from online public databases and social media, summarized in two synthetic dimensions, research effort and public attention. Both dimensions are mainly related to geographic range size.

Early signals of Posidonia oceanica meadows recovery in a context of wastewater treatment improvements.

Natural ecological restoration is a cornerstone of modern conservation science and managers need more documented "success stories" to lead the way. In French mediterranean sea, we monitored Posidonia oceanica lower limit using acoustic telemetry and photogrammetry and investigated the descriptors driving its variations, at a national scale and over more than a decade. We showed significant effects of environmental descriptors (region, sea surface temperature and bottom temperature) but also of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents proxies (size of WWTP, time since conformity, and distance to the closest effluent) on the meadows lower limit progression.

Microplastics in the insular marine environment of the Southwest Indian Ocean carry a microbiome including antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria: A case study from Reunion Island.

The increasing threats to ecosystems and humans from marine plastic pollution require a comprehensive assessment. We present a plastisphere case study from Reunion Island, a remote oceanic island located in the Southwest Indian Ocean, polluted by plastics. We characterized the plastic pollution on the island's coastal waters, described the associated microbiome, explored viable bacterial flora and the presence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria.

Effects of Madagascar marine reserves on juvenile and adult coral abundance, and the implication for population regulation.

Recruitment is a critical component in the dynamics of coral assemblages, and a key question is to determine the degree to which spatial heterogeneity of adults is influenced by pre-vs. post-settlement processes. We analyzed the density of juvenile and adult corals among 18 stations located at three regions around Madagascar, and examined the effects of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

A global analysis of avian island diversity-area relationships in the Anthropocene.

Research on island species-area relationships (ISAR) has expanded to incorporate functional (IFDAR) and phylogenetic (IPDAR) diversity. However, relative to the ISAR, we know little about IFDARs and IPDARs, and lack synthetic global analyses of variation in form of these three categories of island diversity-area relationship (IDAR). Here, we undertake the first comparative evaluation of IDARs at the global scale using 51 avian archipelagic data sets representing true and habitat islands.

A contemporary baseline of Madagascar's coral assemblages: Reefs with high coral diversity, abundance, and function associated with marine protected areas.

Madagascar is a major hotspot of biodiversity in the Western Indian Ocean, but, as in many other regions, coral reefs surrounding the island confront large-scale disturbances and human-induced local stressors. Conservation actions have been implemented with encouraging results for fisheries, though their benefit on coral assemblages has never been rigorously addressed. In this context, we analyzed the multiscale spatial variation of the composition, generic richness, abundance, life history strategies, and cover of coral assemblages among 18 stations placed at three regions around the island.

The aesthetic value of reef fishes is globally mismatched to their conservation priorities.

Reef fishes are closely connected to many human populations, yet their contributions to society are mostly considered through their economic and ecological values. Cultural and intrinsic values of reef fishes to the public can be critical drivers of conservation investment and success, but remain challenging to quantify. Aesthetic value represents one of the most immediate and direct means by which human societies engage with biodiversity, and can be evaluated from species to ecosystems.

Ecological dependencies make remote reef fish communities most vulnerable to coral loss.

Ecosystems face both local hazards, such as over-exploitation, and global hazards, such as climate change. Since the impact of local hazards attenuates with distance from humans, local extinction risk should decrease with remoteness, making faraway areas safe havens for biodiversity. However, isolation and reduced anthropogenic disturbance may increase ecological specialization in remote communities, and hence their vulnerability to secondary effects of diversity loss propagating through networks of interacting species.

Macroecological distributions of gene variants highlight the functional organization of soil microbial systems.

The recent application of macroecological tools and concepts has made it possible to identify consistent patterns in the distribution of microbial biodiversity, which greatly improved our understanding of the microbial world at large scales. However, the distribution of microbial functions remains largely uncharted from the macroecological point of view. Here, we used macroecological models to examine how the genes encoding the functional capabilities of microorganisms are distributed within and across soil systems.

Global tropical reef fish richness could decline by around half if corals are lost.

Reef fishes are a treasured part of marine biodiversity, and also provide needed protein for many millions of people. Although most reef fishes might survive projected increases in ocean temperatures, corals are less tolerant. A few fish species strictly depend on corals for food and shelter, suggesting that coral extinctions could lead to some secondary fish extinctions.

Global mismatch between fishing dependency and larval supply from marine reserves.

Marine reserves are viewed as flagship tools to protect exploited species and to contribute to the effective management of coastal fisheries. Yet, the extent to which marine reserves are globally interconnected and able to effectively seed areas, where fisheries are most critical for food and livelihood security is largely unknown. Using a hydrodynamic model of larval dispersal, we predict that most marine reserves are not interconnected by currents and that their potential benefits to fishing areas are presently limited, since countries with high dependency on coastal fisheries receive very little larval supply from marine reserves.

Identifying the drivers of abundance and size of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in Northwestern Mediterranean lagoons.

Acknowledged as among the worst invasive marine species, Mnemiopsis leidyi has spread through European Seas since the mid-1980's. Here we report a bimonthly survey conducted in 2010-11 in three lagoons (Bages-Sigean, Thau and Berre) and at two adjacent coastal stations (Sète and SOMLIT-Marseille) along the French Mediterranean coast. M.

Opposing Patterns of Seasonal Change in Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity of Tadpole Assemblages.

Assemblages that are exposed to recurring temporal environmental changes can show changes in their ecological properties. These can be expressed by differences in diversity and assembly rules. Both can be identified using two measures of diversity: functional (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD).

Mammalian phylogenetic diversity-area relationships at a continental scale.

In analogy to the species-area relationship (SAR), one of the few laws in ecology, the phylogenetic diversity-area relationship (PDAR) describes the tendency of phylogenetic diversity (PD) to increase with area. Although investigating PDAR has the potential to unravel the underlying processes shaping assemblages across spatial scales and to predict PD loss through habitat reduction, it has been little investigated so far. Focusing on PD has noticeable advantages compared to species richness (SR), since PD also gives insights on processes such as speciation/extinction, assembly rules and ecosystem functioning.

Conserving the functional and phylogenetic trees of life of European tetrapods.

Protected areas (PAs) are pivotal tools for biodiversity conservation on the Earth. Europe has had an extensive protection system since Natura 2000 areas were created in parallel with traditional parks and reserves. However, the extent to which this system covers not only taxonomic diversity but also other biodiversity facets, such as evolutionary history and functional diversity, has never been evaluated.

Functional biogeography of oceanic islands and the scaling of functional diversity in the Azores.

Analyses of species-diversity patterns of remote islands have been crucial to the development of biogeographic theory, yet little is known about corresponding patterns in functional traits on islands and how, for example, they may be affected by the introduction of exotic species. We collated trait data for spiders and beetles and used a functional diversity index (FRic) to test for nonrandomness in the contribution of endemic, other native (also combined as indigenous), and exotic species to functional-trait space across the nine islands of the Azores. In general, for both taxa and for each distributional category, functional diversity increases with species richness, which, in turn scales with island area.

The effects of phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation on forecasts of species range shifts under climate change.

Species are the unit of analysis in many global change and conservation biology studies; however, species are not uniform entities but are composed of different, sometimes locally adapted, populations differing in plasticity. We examined how intraspecific variation in thermal niches and phenotypic plasticity will affect species distributions in a warming climate. We first developed a conceptual model linking plasticity and niche breadth, providing five alternative intraspecific scenarios that are consistent with existing literature.

Multifaceted diversity-area relationships reveal global hotspots of mammalian species, trait and lineage diversity.

Aim: To define biome-scale hotspots of phylogenetic and functional mammalian biodiversity (PD and FD, respectively) and compare them to 'classical' hotspots based on species richness (SR) only.

Location: Global.

Methods: SR, PD & FD were computed for 782 terrestrial ecoregions using distribution ranges of 4616 mammalian species.

Global mismatch between species richness and vulnerability of reef fish assemblages.

The impact of anthropogenic activity on ecosystems has highlighted the need to move beyond the biogeographical delineation of species richness patterns to understanding the vulnerability of species assemblages, including the functional components that are linked to the processes they support. We developed a decision theory framework to quantitatively assess the global taxonomic and functional vulnerability of fish assemblages on tropical reefs using a combination of sensitivity to species loss, exposure to threats and extent of protection. Fish assemblages with high taxonomic and functional sensitivity are often exposed to threats but are largely missed by the global network of marine protected areas.

Arthropod diversity in a tropical forest.

Most eukaryotic organisms are arthropods. Yet, their diversity in rich terrestrial ecosystems is still unknown. Here we produce tangible estimates of the total species richness of arthropods in a tropical rainforest.

Combining projected changes in species richness and composition reveals climate change impacts on coastal Mediterranean fish assemblages.

Species Temporal Turnover (STT) is one of the most familiar metrics to assess changes in assemblage composition as a consequence of climate change. However, STT mixes two components in one metric, changes in assemblage composition caused by a process of species loss or gain (i.e.

Protected and threatened components of fish biodiversity in the Mediterranean sea.

The Mediterranean Sea (0.82% of the global oceanic surface) holds 4%-18% of all known marine species (~17,000), with a high proportion of endemism [1, 2]. This exceptional biodiversity is under severe threats [1] but benefits from a system of 100 marine protected areas (MPAs).