Publications by authors named "Paulina Martinetto"

Coastal vegetated ecosystems are acknowledged for their capacity to sequester organic carbon (OC), known as blue C. Yet, blue C global accounting is incomplete, with major gaps in southern hemisphere data. It also shows a large variability suggesting that the interaction between environmental and biological drivers is important at the local scale.

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Predictors for the ecological effects of non-native species are lacking, even though such knowledge is fundamental to manage non-native species and mitigate their impacts. Current theories suggest that the ecological effects of non-native species may be related to other concomitant anthropogenic stressors, but this has not been tested at a global scale. We combine an exhaustive meta-analysis of the ecological effects of marine non-native species with human footprint proxies to determine whether the ecological changes due to non-native species are modulated by co-occurring anthropogenic impacts.

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Primary production hotspots in the marine environment occur where the combination of light, turbulence, temperature and nutrients makes the proliferation of phytoplankton possible. Satellite-derived surface chlorophyll-a distributions indicate that these conditions are frequently associated with sharp water mass transitions named "marine fronts". Given the link between primary production, consumers and ecosystem functions, marine fronts could play a key role in the production of ecosystem services (ES).

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Exotic species are a growing global ecological threat; however, their overall effects are insufficiently understood. While some exotic species are implicated in many species extinctions, others can provide benefits to the recipient communities. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to quantify and synthesize the ecological effects of 76 exotic marine species (about 6% of the listed exotics) on ten variables in marine communities.

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Using C and N isotopic signatures of food web components, we evaluated the land-marine coupling through nutrient flows and the likely changes in the food web structure in tidal channels with contrasting anthropogenic nutrient inputs at a semi desert-macrotidal coastal system (northern Argentine Patagonia). The results showed an increase in the δC signatures of primary producers and in the δN signatures in all levels of the benthic food web, from primary producers to predators, with possible changes in the relative contribution of primary food sources for consumer in the tidal channel with high anthropogenic N input. This is an example on the extent of the distribution of anthropogenic N into natural systems, flowing through the food web from terrestrial origin to coastal marine components.

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Foliar stable isotopic signatures of nitrogen, carbon, and sulfur in mangrove vegetation from the Pacific coast of Panama were insensitive to inputs from watersheds with different area of forest land cover, and to seasonal, inter-annual, and global-scale-driven contrasts in rainfall and upwelling. N, C, and S content of mangrove vegetation were not affected by inputs from watersheds with different degrees of deforestation, but showed some influence of down-estuary transformations. While there was substantial variation that remained un-explained, isotopic signatures and nutrient contents were largely determined by species-specific features, and showed substantial small-scale variation reflecting local differences, within-estuary plant-sediment links.

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Stable isotopic N, C, and S in food webs of 8 mangrove estuaries on the Pacific coast of Panama were measured to 1) determine whether the degree of deforestation of tropical forests on the contributing watersheds was detectable within the estuarine food web, and 2) define external sources of the food webs within the mangrove estuaries. Even though terrestrial rain forest cover on the contributing watersheds differed between 23 and 92%, the effect of deforestation was not detectable on stable isotopic values in food webs present at the mouth of the receiving estuaries. We used stable isotopic measures to identify producers or organic sources that supported the estuarine food web.

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