The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolychaetes were studied to assess the effect of aquaculture activity on the seafloor. Very high biodiversity of species was recorded associated with aquaculture centres with Cirratulidae, Spionidae and Paraonidae families being the most diverse and abundant families. The spatial distribution of polychaete trophic groups was the best descriptor for detecting changes on the benthos.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThree new species of the genus Syllis Savigny in Lamarck, 1818, from the Chilean Patagonia are described, figured and discussed. The specimens were collected in boulders, sediment bottoms, Macrocystis pyrifera holdfasts, and inside tubes of Chaetopterus cf. variopedatus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe subfamily Exogoninae was studied from samples collected in shallow waters of the fjords and channels of the Patagonian region of Chile. Two new species are described: Exogone yagan n. sp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe estuaries of the Aconcagua and Maipo Rivers of central Chile are receptors of residues that contain metals from anthropic activities including agriculture, mining and smelters, which have different levels in the two basins. This study postulates that the exposition to metals is different in the two estuaries and that their sediments contain bioavailable chemical agents that produce oxidative stress. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of estuarine sediments on the polychaete Perinereis gualpensis using oxidative stress biomarkers and to determine the metal concentrations in sediments and their accumulation in P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe number of records of the genus Prionospio Malmgren, 1867, from the deep sea (>2000 m) are relatively few and do not reflect the actual occurrence of species nor their potential ecological importance. In this paper we describe five new species of this genus (Prionospio amarsupiata sp. nov.
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