Macroecology of rocky intertidal benthic communities along the southwestern Atlantic: Patterns of spatial variation and associations with natural and anthropogenic variables.

Assessing spatial variability in biodiversity and its relationships with potential drivers is necessary for understanding and predicting changes in ecosystems. Here, we evaluated spatial patterns in sessile macrobenthic communities in rocky intertidal habitats along the southwestern Atlantic (SE Brazil), spanning over 500 km of coastline. We applied a rapid-survey approach focusing on the main space occupiers and habitat-forming taxa.

The increase in intensity and frequency of surface air temperature extremes throughout the western South Atlantic coast.

The climate is changing. At this stage, it is important to specify an 'extreme' climate and identify patterns that indicate its potential harm worldwide, including the coastal zones. Herein, we considered extremes based on the "Peaks Over Threshold" method from the "Extreme Value Theory".

Local and large-scale spatial variation in a marine predator-prey interaction in the southwestern Atlantic.

Predator-prey interactions are a key ecological process which can be modified by environmental conditions over a range of spatial scales. Through two complementary short-term experiments, we assessed how local and large-scale environmental conditions affect a subtropical intertidal predator-prey interaction. At a local scale, we evaluated the effects of the degree of exposure to wave action and prey density on consumption rate and interaction strength using a whelk-barnacle system.

When One Health Meets the United Nations Ocean Decade: Global Agendas as a Pathway to Promote Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research on Human-Nature Relationships.

Strong evidence shows that exposure and engagement with the natural world not only improve human wellbeing but can also help promote environmentally friendly behaviors. Human-nature relationships are at the heart of global agendas promoted by international organizations including the World Health Organization's (WHO) "One Health" and the United Nations (UN) "Ocean Decade." These agendas demand collaborative multisector interdisciplinary efforts at local, national, and global levels.

Reviewing the effects of contamination on the biota of Brazilian coastal ecosystems: Scientific challenges for a developing country in a changing world.

Pollution is a major worldwide problem that is increasing with urban growth, mainly along coastal areas. Pollution is often worse, governance is poorer and managerial strategies to improve environmental quality are less advanced in developing than developed countries. Here, we present an overview of the current scientific knowledge of the impacts of contamination on the biota of coastal ecosystems of Brazil and evaluate the scientific challenges to provide baseline information for local managerial purposes.

Influence of environmental variables over multiple spatial scales on the population structure of a key marine invertebrate.

Quantifying scale-dependent patterns and linking ecological to environmental variation is required to understand mechanisms regulating biodiversity. We conducted a large-scale survey in rocky shores along the SE Brazilian coast to examine spatial variability in body size and density of an intertidal barnacle (Chthamalus bisinuatus) and its relationships with benthic and oceanographic predictors. Both the size and density of barnacles showed most variation at the smallest spatial scales.

Aichi Target 18 beyond 2020: mainstreaming Traditional Biodiversity Knowledge in the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal ecosystems.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) have inhabited coastal areas, the seas, and remote islands for millennia, and developed place-based traditional ancestral knowledge and diversified livelihoods associated with the biocultural use of marine and coastal ecosystems. Through their cultural traditions, customary wise practices, and holistic approaches to observe, monitor, understand, and appreciate the Natural World, IPLCs have been preserving, managing, and sustainably using seascapes and coastal landscapes, which has been essential for biodiversity conservation. The international community has more than ever recognized the central role of IPLCs in the conservation of biodiversity-rich ecosystems, in particular, for the achievement of the Global Biodiversity Targets determined by the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to tackle biodiversity loss.

Impacts of copper contamination on a rocky intertidal predator-prey interaction.

Metal contamination can change ecological interactions with potential effects on community dynamics. However, understanding real effects of metals on biota relies on studies undertaken in natural conditions. Through a field experiment, we investigated the effects of copper contamination on the responses of a barnacle prey and its predator, the dogwhelk, and explicitly their interaction.

Functional responses of filter feeders increase with elevated metal contamination: Are these good or bad signs of environmental health?

Fast urbanization in coastal areas has increased the load of contaminants entering estuaries worldwide, threatening the diversity and provision of services by these important systems. Contamination causes structural changes in ecosystems, but the consequences for their functioning are still overlooked. Here we investigated filtration and biodeposition rates of the mussel Mytilaster solisianus across different concentrations of metals, nutrients and suspended material, and levels of urbanization.

Assessments of Metals in Coastal Environments: State of Art.

This study is an overview of the assessments of metal contamination in coastal environments for the past five decades. Research articles with evaluations in sediments and biota were quantified and had their content visited for the registry of (1) the source of metals (anthropogenic or natural), (2) assessed country/territory, (3) groups of organisms assessed, (4) trophic transfer evaluation, (5) spatio-temporal variations, and (6) metals evaluated. We found an increase in the number of assessments over the years, mainly from 2014.

Coastal upwelling affects filter-feeder stable isotope composition across three continents.

Large-scale nutrient fertilisation by coastal upwelling promotes benthic productivity through energy subsidies from enhanced phytoplankton production, and predictions of alterations to upwelling under climate change have implications for benthic ecosystem functioning. We investigated the stable isotope compositions of two bioengineers of global significance, the mussels Perna perna and Mytilus galloprovincialis, from upwelling and non-upwelling sites in five upwelling systems. Samples from Brazil, South Africa and Oman exhibited lower δC values at upwelling sites than at non-upwelling sites, with clearer effects where upwelling is more intense and frequent.

Feeding Behavior of a Crab According to Cheliped Number.

Cheliped loss through autotomy is a common reflexive response in decapod crustaceans. Cheliped loss has direct and indirect effects on feeding behavior which can affect population dynamics and the role of species in the community. In this study, we assessed the impact of autotomy (0, 1, or 2 cheliped loss) on feeding behavior in the crab Pachygrapsus transversus, an omnivorous and abundant species that inhabits subtropical intertidal rocky shores along the South Atlantic Ocean.

Abundance of biofilm on intertidal rocky shores: can trampling by humans be a negative influence?

Trampling by human visitors to rocky shores is a known stressor on macroorganisms. However, the effects of trampling on rocky intertidal biofilm, a complex association of microorganisms of ecological importance in coastal communities, have not been quantified. We evaluated the impact of trampling frequency and intensity on total biomass of epilithic microalgae on intertidal rocky shores in the southeast of Brazil.

Aggressiveness overcomes body-size effects in fights staged between invasive and native fish species with overlapping niches.

Approximately 50 years ago, Nile tilapia were accidentally introduced to Brazil, and the decline of pearl cichlid populations, which has been intensified by habitat degradation, in some locations has been associated with the presence of Nile tilapia. There is, however, little strong empirical evidence for the negative interaction of non-native fish populations with native fish populations; such evidence would indicate a potential behavioural mechanism that could cause the population of the native fish to decline. In this study, we show that in fights staged between pairs of Nile tilapia and pearl cichlids of differing body size, the Nile tilapia were more aggressive than the pearl cichlid.

Prior residence and body size influence interactions between black sea urchins.

Body size and prior residence can modulate agonistic interaction in several animal species, but scientists know little about these relationships in echinoderms. In this study, we tested the effects of these traits on interactions in the black sea urchin (Echinometra lucunter). After a sea urchin was isolated for 24-h in a glass tank to establish prior residence, we introduced an intruder animal adjacent to the resident in the tank and observed interactions for 30 min.