Publications by authors named "J Verba"

Assessing genetic diversity within species is key for conservation strategies in the context of human-induced biotic changes. This is important in marine systems, where many species remain undescribed while being overfished, and conflicts between resource-users and conservation agencies are common. Combining niche modelling with population genomics can contribute to resolving those conflicts by identifying management units and understanding how past climatic cycles resulted in current patterns of genetic diversity.

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We cooperate with other people despite the risk of being exploited or hurt. If future artificial intelligence (AI) systems are benevolent and cooperative toward us, what will we do in return? Here we show that our cooperative dispositions are weaker when we interact with AI. In nine experiments, humans interacted with either another human or an AI agent in four classic social dilemma economic games and a newly designed game of Reciprocity that we introduce here.

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Overfishing is a concerning threat that can lead to the collapse of fish stocks. We assessed the combinations of factors, including biological traits, types of exploitation and responses to sea temperature and salinity changes, that drive species to collapse in the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) tropical and subtropical regions. We applied a catch-based method of stock classification and a catch time series of 61 years from 132 exploited fish species.

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Article Synopsis
  • Arapaima gigas, one of the largest freshwater fish, shows significant genetic variability across 22 locations in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, divided into two major populations: Amazonas and Araguaia-Tocantins.
  • Gene flow mainly occurs within 1500 km, while locations over 2000 km apart exhibit distinct genetic differences due to genetic drift, with no evidence of multiple species in the Amazonas basin.
  • Despite high fishing pressures in Amazonas, gene diversity and allelic richness are higher in the mainstem than in tributaries, indicating demographic independence of sub-populations and recent migration events across locations.
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Two silver arowana, Osteoglossum bicirrhosum, one male (49.5 cm standard length, L ) and one female (52.5 cm L ) that had fed on small-eared colilargo or small-eared pygmy rice rat Oligoryzomys microtis, were sampled during the rising water period in the Brazilian Amazon.

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