Reproductive biology of the electric lanternfish Electrona risso (Myctophidae) and the bigscale fishes Melamphaes polylepis and Scopelogadus mizolepis (Melamphaidae).

This study was the first to investigate the key reproductive traits of the electric lantern fish Electrona risso (Myctophidae, n = 918) and the bigscale fishes (Melamphaidae) Melamphaes polylepis (n = 260) and Scopelogadus mizolepis (n = 649). Specimens of these mesopelagic species were collected in March and April 2015 in the eastern Central Atlantic (0-24° N, 20-26° W). Sex ratio was not significantly different from 1:1 in E.

Length-weight relationships of 55 mesopelagic fishes from the eastern tropical North Atlantic: Across- and within-species variation (body shape, growth stanza, condition factor).

We present estimates of length-weight relationships (LWRs) of 55 mesopelagic fish species of 13 taxonomic families based on data collected in the eastern tropical North Atlantic (ETNA) in March/April 2015. Our data include novel records for 19 species, while for 25 species LWRs are based on the most robust sample sizes, and for 21 species they are based on the most representative size ranges available up to now. In 31 species, body lengths were within the maximum range of body lengths recorded in the area, with new records of maximum lengths for 13 species.

Deep demersal fish communities respond rapidly to warming in a frontal region between Arctic and Atlantic waters.

The assessment of climate impact on marine communities dwelling deeper than the well-studied shelf seas has been hampered by the lack of long-term data. For a long time, the prevailing expectation has been that thermal stability in deep ocean layers will delay ecosystem responses to warming. Few observational studies have challenged this view and indicated that deep organisms can respond exceptionally fast to physical change at the sea surface.

Are we ready to track climate-driven shifts in marine species across international boundaries? - A global survey of scientific bottom trawl data.

Marine biota are redistributing at a rapid pace in response to climate change and shifting seascapes. While changes in fish populations and community structure threaten the sustainability of fisheries, our capacity to adapt by tracking and projecting marine species remains a challenge due to data discontinuities in biological observations, lack of data availability, and mismatch between data and real species distributions. To assess the extent of this challenge, we review the global status and accessibility of ongoing scientific bottom trawl surveys.

Bottom trawl fishing footprints on the world's continental shelves.

Bottom trawlers land around 19 million tons of fish and invertebrates annually, almost one-quarter of wild marine landings. The extent of bottom trawling footprint (seabed area trawled at least once in a specified region and time period) is often contested but poorly described. We quantify footprints using high-resolution satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS) and logbook data on 24 continental shelves and slopes to 1,000-m depth over at least 2 years.

Correction: Community ecology in 3D: Tensor decomposition reveals spatio-temporal dynamics of large ecological communities.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Community ecology in 3D: Tensor decomposition reveals spatio-temporal dynamics of large ecological communities.

Understanding spatio-temporal dynamics of biotic communities containing large numbers of species is crucial to guide ecosystem management and conservation efforts. However, traditional approaches usually focus on studying community dynamics either in space or in time, often failing to fully account for interlinked spatio-temporal changes. In this study, we demonstrate and promote the use of tensor decomposition for disentangling spatio-temporal community dynamics in long-term monitoring data.

Terrestrial and Marine Foraging Strategies of an Opportunistic Seabird Species Breeding in the Wadden Sea.

Lesser black-backed gulls Larus fuscus are considered to be mainly pelagic. We assessed the importance of different landscape elements (open sea, tidal flats and inland) by comparing marine and terrestrial foraging behaviours in lesser black-backed gulls breeding along the coast of the southern North Sea. We attached GPS data loggers to eight incubating birds and collected information on diet and habitat use.

From Metaphors to Formalism: A Heuristic Approach to Holistic Assessments of Ecosystem Health.

Environmental policies employ metaphoric objectives such as ecosystem health, resilience and sustainable provision of ecosystem services, which influence corresponding sustainability assessments by means of normative settings such as assumptions on system description, indicator selection, aggregation of information and target setting. A heuristic approach is developed for sustainability assessments to avoid ambiguity and applications to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and OSPAR assessments are presented. For MSFD, nineteen different assessment procedures have been proposed, but at present no agreed assessment procedure is available.

Parasites as biological tags to track an ontogenetic shift in the feeding behaviour of Gadus morhua off West and East Greenland.

Parasites, being an integral part of every ecosystem and trophically transmitted along the food webs, can provide detailed insights into the structure of food webs and can close the information gap between short-term stomach content analyses and long-term fish otolith analyses. They are useful for tracking ontogenetic shifts in the host's diet, the occurrence of specific organisms or migratory behaviour of their hosts, even in inaccessible environments. In the present study, stomach content analyses and parasitological examinations were performed on 70 Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, one of the most important high-level predators of small fish in the North Atlantic, caught during one research vessel cruise from West and East Greenlandic waters.

Changes in the seasonal cycles of inorganic nutrients in the coastal zone of the southeastern North Sea from 1960 to 1997: effects of eutrophication and sensitivity to meteoclimatic factors.

A long-term analysis of seasonal cycles of inorganic nutrients by means of a seasonal index is presented for the German Bight and the southern Wadden Sea (SE North Sea). Multivariate analysis for the German Bight data series revealed dependence of ammonium and phosphate index time series on dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations and riverine nutrient loads. Both indices are assumed to reflect seasonal dynamics of remineralisation processes associated with increased supply of organic matter.

Oxygen exchange in relation to carbon assimilation in water-stressed leaves during photosynthesis.

In a study on metabolic consumption of photosynthetic electrons and dissipation of excess light energy under water stress, O2 and CO2 gas exchange was measured by mass spectrometry in tomato plants using 18O2 and 13CO2. Under water stress, gross O2 evolution (E(O)), gross O2 uptake (U(O)), net CO2 uptake (PN), gross CO2 uptake (TPS), and gross CO2 evolution (Ec) declined. The ratio P(N)/E(O) fell during stress, while the ratios U(O)/E(O) and E(C)/TPS rose.

A new approach to measure gross CO2 fluxes in leaves. Gross CO2 assimilation, photorespiration, and mitochondrial respiration in the light in tomato under drought stress.

We developed a new method using 13CO2 and mass spectrometry to elucidate the role of photorespiration as an alternative electron dissipating pathway under drought stress. This was achieved by experimentally distinguishing between the CO2 fluxes into and out of the leaf. The method allows us to determine the rates of gross CO2 assimilation and gross CO2 evolution in addition to net CO2 uptake by attached leaves during steady-state photosynthesis.

Regulation of nitrate reductase transcript levels by glutamine accumulating in the leaves of a ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase-deficient gluS mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, and by glutamine provided via the roots.

The regulation by glutamine of the leaf transcript level corresponding to the Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. nitrate reductase gene nia2 was examined using a novel approach: we took advantage of the ability of a ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase-deficient gluS mutant of A.

Photosynthesis and fluorescence quenching, and the mRNA levels of plastidic glutamine synthetase or of mitochondrial serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) in the leaves of the wild-type and of the SHMT-deficient stm mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana in relation to the rate of photorespiration.

The regulation by photorespiration of the transcript level corresponding to plastidic glutamine synthetase (GS-2) was investigated in the leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh..

Evidence for the Contribution of the Mehler-Peroxidase Reaction in Dissipating Excess Electrons in Drought-Stressed Wheat.

Gross O2 evolution and uptake by attached, drought-stressed leaves of wheat (Triticum aestivum) were measured using a 16O2/ 18O2 isotope technique and mass spectrometry. The activity of photosystem II, determined from the rate of 16O2 evolution, is only slightly affected under drought conditions. During drought stress, net CO2 uptake decreases due to stomatal closure, whereas the uptake of 18O2 is stimulated.

Simultaneous gas exchange and fluorescence measurements indicate differences in the response of sunflower, bean and maize to water stress.

Gas exchange and fluorescence measurements of attached leaves of water stressed bean, sunflower and maize plants were carried out at two light intensities (250 μmol quanta m(-2)s(-1) and 850 μmol quanta m(-2)s(-1)). Besides the restriction of transpiration and CO2 uptake, the dissipation of excess light energy was clearly reflected in the light and dark reactions of photosynthesis under stress conditions. Bean and maize plants preferentially use non-photochemical quenching for light energy dissipation.

Mass Spectrometric Measurement of Intracellular Carbonic Anhydrase Activity in High and Low C(i) Cells of Chlamydomonas: Studies Using O Exchange with C/O Labeled Bicarbonate.

By measuring (18)O exchange from doubly labeled CO(2) ((13)C(18)O(18)O), intracellular carbonic anhydrase activity was studied with protoplasts and chloroplasts isolated from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii grown either on air (low inorganic carbon [C(i)]) or air enriched with 5% CO(2) (high C(i)). Intact low C(i) protoplasts had a 10-fold higher carbonic anhydrase activity than did high C(i) protoplasts. Application of dextran-bound inhibitor and quaternary ammonium sulfanilamide, both known as membrane impermeable inhibitors of carbonic anhydrase, had no influence on the catalysis of (18)O exchange, indicating that cross-contamination with extracellular carbonic anhydrase was not responsible for the observed activity.

Light Energy Dissipation under Water Stress Conditions: Contribution of Reassimilation and Evidence for Additional Processes.

Using (14)CO(2) gas exchange and metabolite analyses, stomatal as well as total internal CO(2) uptake and evolution were estimated. Pulse modulated fluorescence was measured during induction and steady state of photosynthesis. Leaf water potential of Digitalis lanata EHRH.

Active CO(2) Transport by the Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Mass spectrometric measurements of dissolved free (13)CO(2) were used to monitor CO(2) uptake by air grown (low CO(2)) cells and protoplasts from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In the presence of 50 micromolar dissolved inorganic carbon and light, protoplasts which had been washed free of external carbonic anhydrase reduced the (13)CO(2) concentration in the medium to close to zero. Similar results were obtained with low CO(2) cells treated with 50 micromolar acetazolamide.

Ammonia assimilation by Aspergillus nidulans: [15N]ammonia study.

15N kinetic labelling studies were done on liquid cultures of wild-type Aspergillus nidulans. The labelling pattern of major amino acids under 'steady state' conditions suggests that glutamate and glutamine-amide are the early products of ammonia assimilation in A. nidulans.

The efficiency of water use in water stressed plants is increased due to ABA induced stomatal closure.

Gas exchange and abscisic acid content of Digitalis lanata EHRH. have been examined at different levels of plant water stress. Net photosynthesis, transpiration and conductance of attached leaves declined rapidly at first, then more slowly following the withholding of irrigation.

Photosynthesis and apparent affinity for dissolved inorganic carbon by cells and chloroplasts of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii grown at high and low CO2 concentrations.

Chloroplasts with high rates of photosynthetic O2 evolution (up to 120 μmol O2· (mg Chl)(-1)·h(-1) compared with 130 μmol O2· (mg Chl)(-1)·h(-1) of whole cells) were isolated from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells grown in high and low CO2 concentrations using autolysine-digitonin treatment. At 25° C and pH=7.8, no O2 uptake could be observed in the dark by high- and low-CO2 adapted chloroplasts.

(16)O 2/ (18)O 2 analysis of oxygen exchange in Dunaliella tertiolecta. Evidence for the inhibition of mitochondrial respiration in the light.

A mass spectrometric (16)O2/(18)O2-isotope technique was used to analyse the rates of gross O2 evolution, net O2 evolution and gross O2 uptake in relation to photon fluence rate by Dunaliella tertiolecta adapted to 0.5, 1.0, 1.

Fluorescence Quenching and Gas Exchange in a Water Stressed C(3) Plant, Digitalis lanata.

A leaf cuvette has been adapted for use with a pulse-modulation fluorometer and an open gas exchange system. Leaf water potential (psi) was decreased by withholding watering from Digitalis lanata EHRH. plants.