Understanding the role of biological, environmental and human-impact factors on mercury concentrations in a demersal mesopredator shark.

Anthropogenic activities, including the increase in pollutants, are triggering significant impacts on marine ecosystems. Mercury (Hg) is a particularly toxic pollutant, which poses critical threats due to its persistence and bioaccumulation in marine food webs. Using generalized additive models, this study investigates the effect of the main factors influencing the variability of Hg concentrations in the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula), an abundant and largely distributed demersal predator across the western Mediterranean Sea.

Environmental and human factors shape the trophic ecology of a widespread marine predator.

Integrative approaches that investigate trophic ecology drivers provide knowledge to explore and predict changes in food-web dynamics under contrasting scenarios of global change. However, there are few studies that analyse the relationship between environmental factors and trophic interactions and that additionally consider other human stressors such as fisheries. Here, we use Bayesian Stable isotope mixing models to study the trophic ecology of a widespread pelagic predatory fish, the swordfish (Xiphias gladius), in the western Mediterranean Sea and the adjacent Atlantic waters.

Spatial and interspecific differences of trace element concentrations in the feathers of pelagic and coastal seabirds from the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Western Mediterranean Sea.

Coastal ecosystems face increasing contamination threats due to urbanisation and consequent human pressure worldwide. This study assessed exposure to 15 trace elements (Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr, Ti, V, Zn) across the Northeast Atlantic and the western Mediterranean in pelagic shearwaters (Calonectris borealis and C. diomedea) and coastal gulls (Ichthyaetus audouinii and Larus michahellis).

Interconnected robotic platforms inform deep-sea ecological restoration trends.

The implementation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) has increased in the last few decades, creating a deep impact on ocean governance and local fishery communities. Despite their effectiveness being actively debated, initial results show that this spatial management could promote the recovery of depleted marine communities and species, and ecosystem services such as increased fishing profits, especially in nearby areas. This could potentially maintain the economic levels of local and regional under-pressure economies while improving the overall marine biodiversity.

Opportunistic Gulls Infected by Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Show Contrasting Movement Behaviour.

The emergence, spread and potential zoonotic importance of pathogenic-resistant bacteria (e.g., ) has fuelled the research on epidemiology and vector movement dynamics.

Quantum-assisted trustworthiness for the Quantum Internet.

Device redundancy is one of the most well-known mechanisms in distributed systems to increase the overall system fault tolerance and, consequently, trustworthiness. Existing algorithms in this regard aim to exchange a significant number of messages among nodes to identify and agree which communication links or nodes are faulty. This approach greatly degrades the performance of those wireless communication networks exposed to limited available bandwidth and/or energy consumption due to messages flooding.

Enhancing Bandwidth and Efficiency with Slotted Ground Planes Embedding Antenna Boosters.

The deployment of wireless devices has increased exponentially in recent years, not only for mobile applications but also for IoT. Typically, these IoT devices exchange data with other devices by means of wireless connections, where battery consumption depends on the antenna system's efficiency. In applications where long battery life and reliable transmission are essential, improving the efficiency of the antenna is crucial.

Calonectris shearwaters reveal a gradient of mercury contamination along the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters of the Iberian Peninsula.

This study examines blood mercury (Hg) concentrations in Calonectris spp. shearwaters from three colonies along the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters of the Iberian Peninsula (southwestern Europe), investigating their relationship with foraging ecology through GPS tracking and stable isotopes (δN and δC) data during the breeding season. Hg levels exhibited a spatial gradient, increasing from the Atlantic Ocean (1.

Energyscapes pinpoint marine megafauna feeding hotspots in the Mediterranean.

Ocean giants shape the structure and functioning of marine food webs via trophic top-down controls, landscapes of fear, vertical and horizontal redistribution of nutrients, energy, and matter. Yet, they face threats from overfishing, pollution, habitat degradation, and climate change, and one-third of marine megafauna species are at risk of extinction, ultimately endangering the resilience of entire ecosystems. In such a context, knowing when and where megafauna find resources to balance their substantial energy requirements is critical for their management.

Characterization of plastic ingestion in urban gull chicks and its implications for their use as pollution sentinels in coastal cities.

The increase of plastic pollution represents a significant ecological threat, particularly in human-impacted environments. However, the effects of plastic ingestion by urban wildlife are less understood. This study investigates the presence of microplastic (MPs; plastic <5 mm in size) and macroplastics (MaPs, plastic >5 mm in size) in yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) chicks inhabiting the urban marine ecosystem of Barcelona (northeastern Spain).

Dirty habits: potential for spread of antibiotic-resistance by black-headed gulls from waste-water treatment plants.

Anthropogenic environments such as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and landfills are sources of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Black-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) frequently use WWTPs and may be vectors for AMR. We used GPS tracking data for 39 gulls for up to 8 months, combined with a shedding curve, to study sources and dispersal distances of AMR in Iberia.

Microplastic characterization in the stomachs of swordfish (Xiphias gladius) from the western Mediterranean Sea.

In this study, we aimed to quantify the presence of microplastics (MPs) in the stomachs of large pelagic fish (swordfish, Xiphias gladius, Linnaeus, 1758) sampled in the western Mediterranean Sea, and assess temporal trends (2011-2012 vs. 2017-2019) in MP ingestion. MPs were extracted from stomachs and characterized by μ-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Feeding strategies of the pelagic stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea) in the western Mediterranean Sea.

Elasmobranchs play crucial roles as predators in marine ecosystems. Understanding their trophic strategies and interactions is necessary for comprehending food web dynamics and developing ecosystem-based management strategies. Although, feeding strategies can change depending on several factors, including fluctuations in prey availability throughout the year.

Indicators to assess temporal variability in marine connectivity processes: A semi-theoretical approach.

Oceanographic connectivity in an effective network of protected areas is crucial for restoring and stabilising marine populations. However, temporal variability in connectivity is rarely considered as a criterion in designing and evaluating marine conservation planning. In this study, indicators were defined to characterise the temporal variability in occurrence, flux, and frequency of connectivity in a northwestern Mediterranean Sea area.

Sources of persistent organic pollutants and their physiological effects on opportunistic urban gulls.

Urbanization is associated with drastic shifts in biodiversity. While some species thrive in urban areas, the impact of inhabiting these human-altered environments on organism physiology remains understudied. We investigated how exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) affects the physiology of yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) inhabiting a densely populated, industrialized city.

A spatial analysis of urban gulls contribution to the potential spread of zoonotic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Wildlife human interactions within cities are becoming more common with consequences for pathogen transmission and human health. Large gulls are opportunistic feeders, adapted to coexist with humans in urban environments, and are potential vectors for spread and transmission of pathogens, including antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. We investigated the potential role that urban gulls play in the spread and dispersal of these bacteria.

Assessing juvenile swordfish (Xiphias gladius) diet as an indicator of marine ecosystem changes in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea.

To preserve marine biodiversity, we need reliable early warning indicators that inform changes in marine ecosystems. As reliable samplers of mid-trophic level communities, studying the trophodynamics of large pelagic fish can contribute to monitoring these changes. Here, we combined stomach content and stable isotope analyses to reconstruct the diet of juvenile swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, in a time-lapse of almost a decade (2012 and 2020).

CloMet: A Novel Open-Source and Modular Software Platform That Connects Established Metabolomics Repositories and Data Analysis Resources.

The field of metabolomics has witnessed the development of hundreds of computational tools, but only a few have become cornerstones of this field. While MetaboLights and Metabolomics Workbench are two well-established data repositories for metabolomics data sets, Workflows4Metabolomics and MetaboAnalyst are two well-established web-based data analysis platforms for metabolomics. Yet, the raw data stored in the aforementioned repositories lack standardization in terms of the file system format used to store the associated acquisition files.

Intraspecific competition and individual behaviour but not urbanization affect the dietary patterns of a generalist avian predator.

Urbanization has reshaped ecosystems and changed natural processes, driving an intense transformation of biomes, biotic community composition and diversity. Despite the growing interest in studying urban ecology over the last decades, the consequences of these changes on species occupying these ecosystems are not yet fully understood. Trophic generalism and tolerance to human disturbance have been proposed as two key traits in the colonization of urban environments.

ROV-based monitoring of passive ecological recovery in a deep-sea no-take fishery reserve.

In the context of marine conservation, trawl fishing activity is the most important ecosystem stressor in demersal Mediterranean waters. Limited management measures in bottom trawling have caused deep-sea stocks of the iconic Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus to decrease over the last decade. This crustacean acts as an umbrella species for co-existing megafauna.

Changes in the feeding ecology of an opportunistic predator inhabiting urban environments in response to COVID-19 lockdown.

Urban-dwelling species present feeding and behavioural innovation that enable them to adjust to anthropogenic food subsidies available in cities. In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak resulted in unprecedented reduction in the human activity worldwide associated with the human lockdown. This situation opened an excellent opportunity to investigate the capability of urban wildlife to cope with this anthropopause event.

Gulls as potential sentinels for urban litter: combining nest and GPS-tracking information.

The production of urban waste has increased in the past decades leading to its mishandling. The effects on public health, economy, and wildlife that waste mismanagement can have are forcing governments to increase their efforts in detecting and mitigating the presence of waste. Identifying and monitoring sentinel species to assess the presence of urban litter could be a cost-effective option.

The influence of ecological factors in the modulation of pollution biomarkers of two small pelagic marine fish.

Biomarkers are useful tools for the detection of marine pollution, which is poorly monitored in the pelagic environment. In this study, we investigated the role of key biological and environmental factors on three hepatic xenobiotic biomarkers: carboxylesterases (CEs), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT). Additionally, ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and benzyloxy-4-[trifluoromethyl]-coumarin-O-debenzyloxylase (BFCOD) activities were determined for comparative purposes.