An overview of forensic ecology applied for marine megafauna conservation

Marine megafauna in the northern Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh: Status, threats and conservation needs

Maintaining coastline hygiene is important for marine ecosystem conservation strategy. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to investigate the marine litter, marine mega-fauna species and communities’ knowledge to identify marine species and ecological roles along Ilaje Coastal Communities in Ondo State, Nigeria using appropriate standard procedures. The field survey yielded 6,047 with mean litter density of 2.02±1.58 item/m2. A significant relationship existed between the types of marine litter (x2 =144447.778, df = 17, p < 0.05) and study sites. Ten marine mega-fauna: Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncates), Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), Hump-backed dolphin (Sousa teuszii), Olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriace), Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), Scalloped Hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini), Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis) and Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) were reported. Out of 339 respondents sampled, 193 had poor knowledge of marine mega-fauna identification while about 86% had no idea of ecological roles of these species. The predictors of knowledge of marine mega-fauna identification among Ilaje coastal communities were age (β = 0.24, p < 0.05) and years of residency (β = 0.25, p < 0.05) while educational background is the predictor of knowledge marine mega-fauna ecological roles (β = 0.02, p < 0.05). The study showed that there were positive and significant relationships between respondents educational background and their knowledge of marine mega-fauna ecological roles (r = 0.02, p < 0.01). This study recommends among other things, designating the Ilaje coastline in Ondo State, Nigeria as marine mega-fauna conservation site.

The Role of Vegetated Coastal Wetlands for Marine Megafauna Conservation

This study proposes an innovative approach to mortality modelling using Stirling interpolation, a numerical analysis technique that enables the estimation of mortality rates at intermediate ages or time points. The results show that the interpolation approach provides more accurate and robust estimates of mortality rates particularly at intermediate ages points. This study demonstrates the potential of Stirling interpolation in mortality modelling and highlights its advantages over traditional methods. The approach has significant implications for actuarial science including life insurance, annuities and pension funds. Mortality modelling is a crucial aspect of actuarial science as it enables the estimation of future mortality rates and the calculation of life insurance reserves, annuity values and pension fund liabilities. Traditional mortality models, such as the parametric model have been widely used in the insurance practice. Stirling interpolation is deployed as an alternative approach to mortality modelling. The objective of the study is to detect kinks and identify the impact on the force of mortality using Stirling’s interpolation. From the results obtained, the interpolated value for the year shows a comparative significant increase between ages 9 and above or decrease from age 5 and 8, this could indicate trends in the population's health such as an improvement or worsening in health conditions, access to healthcare or public health interventions. Though the methodology has the potential to detect kinks due to random shocks in mortality rates, computational evidence confirm that the interpolative approach provides improved, robust and reasonably lower mortality estimates.

Energetic tidal-stream environments are characterized by frequent, variable, yet broadly predictable currents containing ephemeral flow structures that change across multiple spatio-temporal scales. Marine mammals and seabirds (marine megafauna) often frequent such sites, but increasingly these locations are targeted for renewable energy extraction; little is known, however, about how marine megafauna use these habitats and any potential impacts. This review aims to summarize existing knowledge concerning usage by marine megafauna and considers their wider ecological significance. The review describes the physical processes occurring within tidal-stream environments that generate the oceanographic structures of potential ecological relevance, such as jets, boils, eddies, and fronts. Important physical features of these environments include lateral transport, turbulence-driven 3-dimensional flow structure at various spatial scales, and upwelling. Foraging opportunities appear to be the main attractor to marine megafauna, likely driven by enhanced prey abundance, vulnerability, or diversity. Many megafauna associate with particular tidal phases, current strengths, and flow structures, most likely in response to tidally forced prey distribution and behaviours. Occupancy patterns, distributions, and foraging behaviours are discussed. Local site fidelity by ‘tidal-stream experts’ suggest non-uniform conservation risks within larger metapopulations. The review discusses data-gathering techniques and associated challenges, the significance of scaling, and information gaps.

Marine megafauna, namely sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals in this chapter, conforms a group that mainly includes large vertebrates associated with the marine environment during the whole or a significant part of their life history. They are mostly characterized by extreme life span, deferred maturity and slow growing rates; while the high heterogeneity of the environment they inhabit is reflected in a large diversification of diet and feeding tactics. Some representatives of the marine megafauna are considered top predators, playing an important role in the maintenance of the ecosystem and integrating ecological variations occurring in marine ecosystems at different spatiotemporal scales. Most of them have an important role as bio-vectors, transporting nutrients across ecosystem boundaries and favoring nutrient cycling. Marine megafauna is exposed to similar threats within a complex scenario, including bycatch, pollution, climate change, human disturbance, and habitat deterioration. As a result, several populations have undergone and are currently facing declining trends. Various international instruments have played quite an important role in improving conservation policies around the world. However, there is an urgent need to develop new technologies, apply emerging management paradigms and promote collaborations as opportunities to improve marine megafauna conservation and sustainable management.

Solid waste ingestion by marine megafauna on Southeast Brazilian coast

Tracking data have led to evidence-based conservation of marine megafauna, but a disconnect remains between the many 1000s of individual animals that have been tracked and the use of these data in conservation and management actions. Furthermore, the focus of most conservation efforts is within Exclusive Economic Zones despite the ability of these species to move 1000s of kilometers across multiple national jurisdictions. To assist the goal of the United Nations General Assembly’s recent effort to negotiate a global treaty to conserve biodiversity on the high seas, we propose the development of a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management. We argue that a global approach combining tracked movements of marine megafauna and human activities at-sea, and using existing and emerging technologies (e.g., through new tracking devices and big data approaches) can be applied to deliver near real-time diagnostics on existing risks and threats to mitigate global risks for marine megafauna. With technology developments over the next decade expected to catalyze the potential to survey marine animals and human activities in ever more detail and at global scales, the development of dynamic predictive tools based on near real-time tracking and environmental data will become crucial to address increasing risks. Such global tools for dynamic spatial and temporal management will, however, require extensive synoptic data updates and will be dependent on a shift to a culture of data sharing and open access. We propose a global mechanism to store and make such data available in near real-time, enabling a holistic view of space use by marine megafauna and humans that would significantly accelerate efforts to mitigate impacts and improve conservation and management of marine megafauna.

Histological transformations of the dental pulp as possible indicator of post mortem interval: a pilot study

In Mayotte, in July 2007 interviews were conducted on 406 fishermen to assess the bycatch issue on marine megafauna. Seventy-eight fishermen said they caught at least one turtle so far that year, of which twelve were deliberate and 66 accidental. Of the turtle bycaught, 59 were released alive, six released dead and one eaten or sold. Nine fishermen caught at least one dugong during their life time, of which seven were accidental and two deliberate catches. All the animals were kept for meat consumption. Ten fishermen had caught one dolphin accidentally, with all animals released: two dead and eight alive. The handline was responsible for 48 turtle bycatches and three dolphin bycatches. The gillnet was responsible for 12 turtle bycatches, all the dugong catches and four dolphin bycatches. The estimation of bycatch mortality gave a range of 111 to 256 individuals year-1 for turtles, and very low rates (<<1 ind.year-1) for dolphins and dugong. These rates may be highly significant for small populations of hawksbill turtles and dugongs. Most of the fishermen knew the species were protected by law but did not seem to understand the issues behind this legislation. Management measures are proposed to deal with these important issues.

This study investigates the populations of dipterans in the southeastern Prealps of Trentino, Italy, along an altitudinal gradient that exceeds 1000m. The study is important because dipterans play a significant role in crime scene analysis by helping to determine the post-mortem interval (PMI) and understand corpse relocation dynamics. Nine aerial traps were used across three sites from May to November 2023, and a total of 17,876 individuals from diverse species were captured. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences in dipteran populations across sites and exposure levels. The study identified relationships between species and environmental factors such as altitude, temperature, and sunlight exposure using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Results demonstrated that species composition varied with environmental conditions, offering insights into potential shifts due to climate change. The presence of specific species was notably affected by temperature fluctuations, which could impact their usefulness in PMI estimation. Continuous monitoring is crucial to track dipteran population dynamics amidst changing environmental conditions. Such knowledge is important for improving accuracy in PMI estimations and enhancing forensic investigations. In conclusion, ongoing research is pivotal in adapting forensic entomological analyses to evolving ecological contexts, ensuring their reliability in forensic science applications. This study highlights the dynamic nature of dipteran ecology within forensic contexts and emphasises the need for further investigation to observe shifting population dynamics under climate change impacts.

Due to the influence of many environmental processes, a precise determination of the post-mortem interval (PMI) of skeletal remains is known to be very complicated. Although methods for the investigation of the PMI exist, there still remains much room for improvement. In this study the applicability of infrared (IR) microscopic imaging techniques such as reflection-, ATR- and Raman- microscopic imaging for the estimation of the PMI of human skeletal remains was tested. PMI specific features were identified and visualized by overlaying IR imaging data with morphological tissue structures obtained using light microscopy to differentiate between forensic and archaeological bone samples. ATR and reflection spectra revealed that a more prominent peak at 1042 cm-1 (an indicator for bone mineralization) was observable in archeological bone material when compared with forensic samples. Moreover, in the case of the archaeological bone material, a reduction in the levels of phospholipids, proteins, nucleic acid sugars, complex carbohydrates as well as amorphous or fully hydrated sugars was detectable at (reciprocal wavelengths/energies) between 3000 cm-1 to 2800 cm-1. Raman spectra illustrated a similar picture with less ν2PO43−at 450 cm-1 and ν4PO43− from 590 cm-1 to 584 cm-1, amide III at 1272 cm-1 and protein CH2 deformation at 1446 cm-1 in archeological bone material/samples/sources. A semi-quantitative determination of various distributions of biomolecules by chemi-maps of reflection- and ATR- methods revealed that there were less carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates as well as amorphous or fully hydrated sugars in archaeological samples compared with forensic bone samples. Raman- microscopic imaging data showed a reduction in B-type carbonate and protein α-helices after a PMI of 3 years. The calculated mineral content ratio and the organic to mineral ratio displayed that the mineral content ratio increases, while the organic to mineral ratio decreases with time. Cluster-analyses of data from Raman microscopic imaging reconstructed histo-anatomical features in comparison to the light microscopic image and finally, by application of principal component analyses (PCA), it was possible to see a clear distinction between forensic and archaeological bone samples. Hence, the spectral characterization of inorganic and organic compounds by the afore mentioned techniques, followed by analyses such as multivariate imaging analysis (MIAs) and principal component analyses (PCA), appear to be suitable for the post mortem interval (PMI) estimation of human skeletal remains.

Flatbacks at sea: understanding ecology in foraging populations

IntroductionAdolescence is a period of major transition in physical, cognitive, social and emotional development, and the peak time for the onset of mental health conditions, substance use disorders and sexual...

The emergence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been well documented in recent literature which constitute a significant global burden of disease. Qatar which has a significantly high prevalence of NCDs with early on set. Epidemiological and health service utilization information plays a central role in facilitating informed decision making and application of the fundamental principles of PHC in planning and delivery of healthcare with aim to prevent and control NCDs. To enable this, the Department of Clinical Research at Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), Qatar's publicly funded and largest primary care provider designed the Health Assessment Linking Trends in Health Status, Risks, and Healthcare Utilization (HEALTHSIGHT) study. This paper describes the HEALTHSIGHT study protocol. The proposed study will use a cross sectional study design involving a random sample of participants enrolled across all 31 PHCC health centers. Individuals aged 18 and above years old registered with PHCC and hold a valid health card and contact information on PHCC's electronic medical records (EMR) will be eligible for inclusion. A stratified random sample not proportional to size sampling technique will be employed to obtain a representative sample size of the PHCC population (N = 6000). Participants will be scheduled for an appointment at a PHCC health centre where a data collector will obtain informed consent, collect vital sign information and administer a questionnaire. A phlebotomist will collect a blood sample. Health service utilization data will be extracted from PHCC's EMR. Epidemiological and health service utilization information is essential to plan and monitor primary care and public health services. The HEALTHSIGHT study, with the help of a randomly selected representative sample from Qatar's primary healthcare settings, provides a unique opportunity to capture this information. This study design will closely represent a real-world understanding of the health risk, status and utilisation and is likely to provide important data to guide primary care planning and delivery in Qatar. The proposed protocol provides an example of a robust nationwide study that be undertaken in short duration using limited resource which can be undertaken in other similar settings.