Impact assessment of multiple pressures on ecosystem services with a state and transition model: Application to Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows.

A significant challenge in the integration of ecosystem services into decision-making processes lies in effectively capturing the dynamics of marine socio-ecological systems, including their evolutionary pathways, equilibrium states, and tipping points. This paper explores the evolutionary trajectories of a vital marine ecosystem endemic to the Mediterranean Sea: the Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows, in response to various drivers of change. A state-and-transition model is employed to assess the ecosystem services provided by P.

Evaluation of identification methods for cryptic Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) specimens: combining morphological and molecular techniques.

The potential for population genomics to elucidate invasion pathways of a species is limited by taxonomic identification issues. The Oriental fruit fly pest, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) belongs to a complex in which several sympatric species are attracted to the same lure used in trapping and are morphologically cryptic and/or reported to hybridize. In this study, we evaluated the taxonomic ambiguity between B.

Searching for genetic evidence of demographic decline in an arctic seabird: beware of overlapping generations.

Genetic data are useful for detecting sudden population declines in species that are difficult to study in the field. Yet this indirect approach has its own drawbacks, including population structure, mutation patterns, and generation overlap. The ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea), a long-lived Arctic seabird, is currently suffering from rapid alteration of its primary habitat (i.

Organization Science improves management effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas.

The ecological management effectiveness (EME) of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is the degree to which MPAs reach their ecological goals. The significant variability of EME among MPAs has been partly explained by MPA design, management and implementation features (e.g.

An integrated method to evaluate and monitor the conservation state of coralligenous habitats: The INDEX-COR approach.

A new method based on photographic sampling coupled with in situ observations was applied to 53 stations along the French Mediterranean coast, to assess the integrity of coralligenous reefs affected by different levels of anthropogenic pressure. The conservation state of the assemblages characterizing these habitats was then assessed by an index - the INDEX-COR - that integrates three metrics: (i) the sensitivity of the taxa to organic matter and sediment deposition, (ii) the observable taxonomic richness, and (iii) the structural complexity of the assemblages. The sensitivity of INDEX-COR was tested and showed good correlation with the Level of Pressure calculated for each station according to expert judgment and field observations.

Response of rocky reef top predators (Serranidae: Epinephelinae) in and around marine protected areas in the Western Mediterranean Sea.

Groupers species are extremely vulnerable to overfishing and many species are threatened worldwide. In recent decades, Mediterranean groupers experienced dramatic population declines. Marine protected areas (MPAs) can protect populations inside their boundaries and provide individuals to adjacent fishing areas through the process of spillover and larval export.

[A rare cause of neonatal occlusion by a palpable abdominal mass: Meckel's diverticulum].

The authors report an unusual case of newborn obstruction by Meckel's diverticulum. Symptoms were repeated vomiting and a rounded mass was palpated in right lower quadrant. This mass looked like a fecalith on X Rays which also showed dilated gas filled loops of intestine.

[Supernumerary liver. A case with a particular location in an omphalocele].

The authors report one case of a supernumerary liver lobe contained in the omphalocele of a new born. An accessory hepatic lobe was attached to the liver by a pedicle. Its histological structure was that of an immature liver.

[Simple cysts of the testis in children. Apropos of 2 cases].

Reporting two cases of simple testicular cysts in children, the authors analyse these rare benign tumors (9 other cases in literature). The cystic dilatation first affect the rete testis, it can be partial (simple cyst) or extensive (multicystic dysplasia). The primitive perturbation would affect the mesonephrotic formations, with a defect of junction between the two different embryologic formations of the testicle and its excretor system.

[Benign cystic tumors of the testis in children].

Benign cystic testicular tumors are very uncommon in childhood. These tumors can be dysplasic or teratomatous forming two peculiar groups. First electively affect the rete testis cells realizing simple cysts or multicystic dysplasia.