Atlantic Coast Of France Research Articles

A modeling approach to forecast local demographic trends in metapopulations.

Predicting animal population trajectories into the future has become a central exercise in both applied and fundamental ecology. Because demographic models classically assume population closure, they tend to provide inaccurate predictions when applied locally to interconnected subpopulations that are part of a larger metapopulation. Ideally, one should explicitly model dispersal among subpopulations, but in practice this is prevented by the difficulty of estimating dispersal rates in the wild. To forecast the local demography of connected subpopulations, we developed a new demographic model (hereafter, the two-scale model) that disentangles two processes occurring at different spatial scales. First, at the larger scale, a closed population model describes changes in metapopulation size over time. Second, total metapopulation size is redistributed among subpopulations, using time-varying proportionality parameters. This two-step approach ensures that the long-term growth of every subpopulation is constrained by the overall metapopulation growth rate. It implicitly accounts for the interconnectedness among subpopulations and avoids unrealistic trajectories. Using realistic simulations, we compared the performance of this new model with that of a classical closed population model at predicting subpopulations' trajectories over 30 years. While the classical model predicted future subpopulation sizes with an average bias of 30% and produced predictive errors sometimes >500%, the two-scale model showed very little bias (<3%) and never produced predictive errors >20%. We also applied both models to a real dataset on European shags (Gulosus aristotelis) breeding along the Atlantic coast of France. Again, the classical model predicted highly unrealistic growths, as large as a 200-fold increase over 30 years for some subpopulations. The two-scale model predicted very sensible growths, never larger than a threefold increase over the 30-year time horizon, which is more in accordance with this species' life history. This two-scale model provides an effective solution to forecast the local demography of connected subpopulations in the absence of data on dispersal rates. In this context, it is a better alternative than closed population models and a more parsimonious option than full-dispersal models. Because the only data required are simple counts, this model could be useful to many large-scale wildlife monitoring programs.

Understanding the role of Francisella halioticida in mussel mortalities in France: an integrative approach.

Since 2014, mass mortalities of mussels Mytilus spp. have occurred in production areas on the Atlantic coast of France. The aetiology of these outbreaks remained unknown until the bacterium Francisella halioticida was detected in some mussel mortality cases. This retrospective study was conducted to assess the association between F. halioticida and these mussel mortalities. Mussel batches (n = 45) from the Atlantic coast and English Channel were selected from archived individual samples (n = 863) collected either during or outside of mortality events between 2014 and 2017. All mussels were analysed by real-time PCR assays targeting F. halioticida; in addition, 185 were analysed using histological analysis and 178 by 16S rRNA metabarcoding. F. halioticida DNA was detected by real-time PCR and 16S rRNA metabarcoding in 282 and 34 mussels, respectively. Among these individuals, 82% (real-time PCR analysis) and 76% (16S rRNA metabarcoding analysis) were sampled during a mortality event. Histological analyses showed that moribund individuals had lesions mainly characterized by necrosis, haemocyte infiltration and granulomas. Risk factor analysis showed that mussel batches with more than 20% of PCR-positive individuals were more likely to have been sampled during a mortality event, and positive 16S rRNA metabarcoding batches increased the strength of the association with mortality by 11.6 times. The role of F. halioticida in mussel mortalities was determined by reviewing the available evidence. To this end, a causation criteria grid, tailored to marine diseases and molecular pathogen detection tools, allowed more evidence to be gathered on the causal role of this bacterium in mussel mortalities.

GNSS-retrieved precipitable water vapour in the Atlantic coast of France and Spain with GPT3 model

Water vapour is a critical atmospheric parameter to understand the Earth's climate system and it is characterized by a complex variability in time and space. GNSS observations have become an important source of information of the water vapour, thanks to its high temporal and spatial resolution. However, the lack of meteorological sites collocated with the GNSS site could hamper water vapour retrieval. The empirical blind models can fill this gap. This study analyses the temporal and spatial distribution of the water vapour using nine GNSS sites located on the Atlantic coast of Spain and France, with the empirical blind model GPT3 as the source of meteorological information. The observations were processed with Bernese 5.2 software on a double difference approach and validated with Zenith Total Delay EUREF REPRO2 values. Consequently, four-years series of water vapour was determined and validated using two matched radiosonde sites. The characterization of the water vapour on the area shows clear seasonal characteristics that the technique captures, using an empirical blind model for the whole process. Maximum values are observed in summer season and minimum in winter. The PWV tends to decrease with increasing latitude in the area of the study. The short-term variations can be reproduced by the high temporal resolution of the GNSS-retrieved water vapour and show a different behaviour over the area, but a similar pattern with a peak in the afternoon and minimum at night was found. Also, less variability is observed in winter season and higher in summertime.

Long-term trends of salinity in coastal wetlands: Effects of climate, extreme weather events, and sea water level

Coastal freshwater ecosystems play major roles as reservoirs of biodiversity and provide many ecosystem services and protection from extreme weather events. While they are of particular importance worldwide, they are affected by a large variety of anthropogenic threats, among which salinization has been less studied, particularly regarding large temporal and spatial data sets based on real case scenarios, while salinity can impact biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In this study, we investigated the variations of salinity across long-term (1996–2020) and seasonal (monthly records) temporal scales and spatial (varying distance to the coastline) scales in water bodies of two typical temperate coastal wetlands situated on the Atlantic coast of France. We complemented our analyses with models of sea water levels computed at both sites across 2000–2020. Our detailed data set allowed for highlighting that salinity in ponds varied seasonally (higher during summer, due to decreased precipitation and higher temperature), but also spatially (higher closer to the seashore, which pattern increased through time). Over the long term, decreased precipitation but not increased temperature induced increasing salinity. We also highlighted contrasted long-term patterns of salinity changes on these two coastal wetlands, with one site were salinity decreased over time linked to the responses to marine flood, allowing to document the temporal dynamics of salinity following a massive intrusion of sea water. Complementarily, at both sites, water levels at high tides increased through time, a pattern which can induce additional salinization. To our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate long-term changes in salinity in coastal wetlands through natural processes (e.g. seaspray, seasonal variations) and ongoing climate perturbations (e.g. marine surges linked to extreme weather events, increased temperature and decreased precipitations).

LAMP-based molecular sexing in a gonochoric marine bivalve (Macoma balthica rubra) with divergent sex-specific mitochondrial genomes.

Taking advantage of the unique system of doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondria, we developed a reliable molecular method to sex individuals of the marine bivalve Macoma balthica rubra. In species with DUI (~100 known bivalves), both sexes transmit their mitochondria: males bear both a male- and female-type mitogenome, while females bear only the female type. Male and female mitotypes are sufficiently divergent to reliably PCR-amplify them specifically. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a precise, economical and portable alternative to PCR for molecular sexing and we demonstrate its application in this context. We used 154 individuals sampled along the Atlantic coast of France and sexed microscopically by gonad examination to test for the congruence among gamete type, PCR sexing and LAMP sexing. We show an exact match among the sexing results from these three methods using the male and female mt-cox1 genes. DUI can be disrupted in inter-specific hybrids, causing unexpected distribution of mitogenomes, such as homoplasmic males or heteroplasmic females. To our knowledge, DUI disruption at the intra-specific scale has never been tested. We applied our sexing protocol to control for unexpected heteroplasmy caused by hybridization between divergent genetic lineages and found no evidence of disruption in the mode of mitochondrial inheritance in M. balthica rubra. We propose LAMP as a useful tool to accelerate eco-evolutionary studies of DUI. It offers the opportunity to investigate the potential role of, previously unaccounted-for, sex-specific patterns such as sexual selection or sex-specific dispersal bias in the evolution of free-spawning benthic species.

Distribution and trophic functioning of planktonic communities in coastal marshes in Atlantic Coast of France

Coastal marshes are submitted to huge management due to anthropogenic pressure and thus, it is essential to preserve their biodiversity, their ecological functions and the ecosystem services they can provide. This study investigates the diversity and abundance of planktonic communities (heterotrophic prokaryotes, heterotrophic protists, microphytoplankton and metazooplankton). The aim of this study is to provide a first quantitative inventory on the plankton communities present in two marshes and to construct the different typologies of planktonic food webs in these marshes. Seasonal samplings (4) for environmental variables, nutrient concentrations and planktonic communities were conducted at 2–3 stations on each marsh during a year. A total of five different types of planktonic food web were determined, three of them were found in both marshes. The saltmarsh phytoplanktonic communities were dominated by Cryptophyta, nanoflagellates and Cyanobacteria. The freshwater marsh was dominated by Cryptophyta in autumn and winter and by a diverse phytoplankton community in spring. Marine copepods (Calanoida and Harpacticoida) characterized the saltwater metazooplanktonic communities, Cladocerans and Rotifera the freshwater ones. Overall, the planktonic diversity was higher in the freshwater marsh (102 taxa) than in the saltwater marsh (54 taxa).Phytoplankton blooms represented nutrient and CO2 uptake in both marshes and this purification function seemed most efficient in autumn in the saltmarsh. Considerable zooplankton communities represented a potential for nursery. Of the three management actions performed, only periodic water renewals might affect the seasonal dynamics of planktonic communities.

Some like it salty: Spatio‐temporal dynamics of salinity differentially affect anurans and caudates in coastal wetlands

Abstract Coastal wetlands are naturally subjected to salinity, which is expected to increase through global climate changes. Most species will be affected by these changes, leading to major consequences for community structure and ecosystem functioning. We investigated variation of salinity of temporary wetlands across spatial (1,000 m from the ocean) and temporal (across three breeding season) scales relevant to coastal biodiversity and used amphibians (six species, sampled across one breeding season) as a model to investigate the consequences of the spatio‐temporal variation of salinity in 24 ponds situated on the Atlantic coast of France. We show that salinity is a highly dynamic environmental variable that varies widely both across spatial and temporal scales. The spatio‐temporal dynamics of salinity are a critical factor structuring amphibian communities that affect the main amphibian phylogenetic groups (caudates vs. anurans) differently. Temporal variation in salinity disrupts the match between salinity selected by reproductive adults and those experienced later by their developing offspring, which negatively affect reproductive success. Future changes in coastal salinity are likely to affect the structure and functioning of these ecosystems, excluding salt‐intolerant species and eventually leading to less diverse communities of salt‐tolerant species.

Coastal Erosion Risk: Population Adaptation to Climate Change—A Case Study of the Pays de la Loire Coastline

Abstract Studying the population’s perception of coastal erosion is essential and is increasingly used by coastal administrators, especially because it strongly influences the acceptance of coastal adaptation strategies. This article explores the population’s perception of coastal risk on the Atlantic coast of France (Pays de la Loire region) that is an at-risk territory historically affected by erosion and is particularly sensitive to coastal flooding. The major goal of the paper is to collect data in terms of risk perception by carrying out a field survey on three territorial collectivities, with the aim to enhance the feasibility of the managed retreat operations that will be implemented on this coast in the next years. A total of 700 surveys were collected and several original results can be drawn: the population has a good knowledge of erosion in the area where they live, and this knowledge is key because the territory is vulnerable. Similarly, the respondents have a good knowledge of protection measures, but some are more important than others: for example, the reinforcement of coastal defenses is the most commonly cited strategy to deal with coastal hazards whereas relocation is the second-most-known but least-popular scenario. Several factors influence people’s perception of risk: for example, time spent in the residence and age of residents are two elements contributing to place attachment that must be taken into account before starting to implement any climate adaptation policies.

A Machine-Learning Approach to Intertidal Mudflat Mapping Combining Multispectral Reflectance and Geomorphology from UAV-Based Monitoring

Remote sensing is a relevant method to map inaccessible areas, such as intertidal mudflats. However, image classification is challenging due to spectral similarity between microphytobenthos and oyster reefs. Because these elements are strongly related to local geomorphic features, including biogenic structures, a new mapping method has been developed to overcome the current obstacles. This method is based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), RGB, and multispectral (four bands: green, red, red-edge, and near-infrared) surveys that combine high spatial resolution (e.g., 5 cm pixel), geomorphic mapping, and machine learning random forest (RF) classification. A mudflat on the Atlantic coast of France (Marennes-Oléron bay) was surveyed based on this method and by using the structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetric approach to produce orthophotographs and digital surface models (DSM). Eight classes of mudflat surface based on indexes, such as NDVI and spectral bands normalised to NIR, were identified either on the whole image (i.e., standard RF classification) or after segmentation into five geomorphic units mapped from DSM (i.e., geomorphic-based RF classification). The classification accuracy was higher with the geomorphic-based RF classification (93.12%) than with the standard RF classification (73.45%), showing the added value of combining topographic and radiometric data to map soft-bottom intertidal areas and the user-friendly potential of this method in applications to other ecosystems, such as wetlands or peatlands.

Growth rate rather than temperature affects the B∕Ca ratio in the calcareous red alga &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Lithothamnion corallioides&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;

Abstract. The B/Ca ratio in calcareous marine species is informative of past seawater CO32- concentrations, but scarce data exist on B/Ca in coralline algae. Recent studies suggest influences of temperature and growth rates on B/Ca, the effect of which could be critical for the reconstructions of surface ocean pH and atmospheric pCO2. In this paper, we present the first laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analyses of Mg, Sr, Li, and B in the coralline alga Lithothamnion corallioides collected from different geographic settings and depths across the Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean. We produced the first data on putative temperature proxies (Mg/Ca, Li/Ca, Sr/Ca, Mg/Li) and B/Ca in a coralline algal species grown in different basins from across the photic zone (12, 40, 45, and 66 m depth). We tested the B/Ca correlation with temperature proxies and growth rates in order to evaluate their possible effect on B incorporation. Our results suggested a growth rate influence on B/Ca, which was evident in the sample with the lowest growth rate of 0.10 mm yr−1 (Pontian Isl., Italy; 66 m depth) and in Elba (Italy; 45 m depth), where the algal growth rate was the highest (0.14 mm yr−1). At these two sites, the measured B/Ca was the lowest at 462.8 ± 49.2 µmol mol−1 and the highest at 757.7 ± 75.5 µmol mol−1, respectively. A positive correlation between B/Ca and temperature proxies was found only in the shallowest sample from Morlaix (Atlantic coast of France; 12 m depth), where the amplitude of temperature variation (ΔT) was the highest (8.9 ∘C). Still, fluctuations in B/Ca did not mirror yearly seasonal temperature oscillations as for Mg/Ca, Li/Ca, and Sr/Ca. We concluded that growth rates, triggered by the different ΔT and light availability across depth, affect the B incorporation in L. corallioides.

Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coast.

Foliose species of the genus Ulva are notoriously difficult to identify due to their variable morphological characteristics and high phenotypic plasticity. We reassessed the taxonomic status of several distromatic foliose Ulva spp., morphologically related to Ulva rigida, using DNA barcoding with the chloroplastic tufA and rbcL (for a subset of taxa) genes for 339 selected attached Ulva specimens collected from three intertidal rocky sites. Two of the collection sites were in Brittany and one site was in Vendée, along the Atlantic coast of France. Molecular analyses included several museum specimens and the holotype of Ulva armoricana Dion, Reviers & Coat. We identified five different tufA haplotypes using a combination of phylogenetic analysis, with the support of several recently sequenced holotypes and lectotypes, and a species delimitation method based on hierarchical clustering. Four haplotypes were supported by validly named species: Ulva australis Areschoug, Ulva fenestrata Postels & Ruprecht, Ulva lacinulata (Kützing) Wittrock and U. rigida C. Agardh. The later was additionally investigated using rbcL. The fifth haplotype represented exact sequence matches to an unnamed species from European Atlantic coasts. Our results support: (1) the synonymy of both U. rigida sensu Bliding non C. Agardh and U. armoricana with U. lacinulata. This finding is based on current genetic analysis of tufA from the U. armoricana holotype and recent molecular characterization of the lectotype of U. laetevirens, which is synonymous to U. australis, (2) the presence of U. australis as a misidentified introduced species in Brittany, and (3) the presence of U. fenestrata and U. rigida in southern Brittany. The taxonomic history of each species is discussed, highlighting issues within distromatic foliose taxa of the genus Ulva and the need to genetically characterize all its available type specimens.

Field Tests on a Full-Scale Steel Chimney Subjected to Vortex-Induced Vibrations

Industrial chimneys, launch vehicles and stacks are examples of large diameter circular cross section structures that can be prone to cross-wind vortex-induced vibration (VIV). VIV has been extensively studied for both fundamental and applied issues, but few documented studies concern high Reynolds number regimes (> 5 × 105) in atmospheric turbulent wind. This paper introduces a field test on a slender light and low damped chimney designed to experience “super-critical” VIV at moderate wind velocity. The chimney was recently erected in a wind monitored field, near the Atlantic coast of France. The purpose of this paper is to present the first vibration results obtained during a sequential 13-day period in September 2020. A statistical analysis has been performed on the amplitude and dominant frequency responses and results are reported in term of probability distribution as a function of wind speed and direction. VIV events of low (<15% of diameter) to moderate amplitude (>30% of diameter) have been highlighted in a range of wind velocity 25% lower than expected, along with significant influence of the wind direction – low turbulence easterly wind giving vortex-induced vibrations with the highest amplitude.

A prehistoric jade axe from Galicia (Northwestern Iberia): Researching its origin

The Vilapedre axe (Lugo, Northwest Iberia) has been traditionally considered by archaeologists as evidence of prehistoric long-distance contacts along the Atlantic Coast of France and Spain. This artefact - as other “Tumiac type” axes (long polished blades, generally butt-perforated) - would have been produced in Brittany during the Neolithic (5th millennium BCE) using jadeitite as raw material, a green-coloured rock for which there are sources in the western Italian Alps. In this paper, we have traced the possible archaeological origin of this artefact back by examining the personal files of one of its first owners, Santiago de la Iglesia. Furthermore, we have conducted a mineralogical (X-Ray Diffraction, XRD) and an elemental analysis (Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Detection, SEM-EDX) of both the Vilapedre axe and geological samples from several places at the Alps where prehistoric quarrying of greenstones has been reported. The aims were physicochemically characterizing the axe to provide information about its possible geological source. During our analyses, we have found significant compositional similarities between the Vilapedre axe and one of the geological samples coming from the Alps (Alp06). The results are therefore consistent with the alleged Alpine origin of this artefact. The presence of this axe in Northwest Spain, together with other evidence, such as the presence of objects of Iberian origin in Breton monuments, strongly suggests the existence of contacts between both regions of the Atlantic façade during the Neolithic onwards in which seafaring would undoubtedly have played an important role.

Characterization of toxin-producing strains of Dinophysis spp. (Dinophyceae) isolated from French coastal waters, with a particular focus on the D. acuminata-complex

Dinoflagellates of the genus Dinophysis are the most prominent producers of Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) toxins which have an impact on public health and on marine aquaculture worldwide. In particular, Dinophysis acuminata has been reported as the major DSP agent in Western Europe. Still, its contribution to DSP events in the regions of the English Channel and the Atlantic coast of France, and the role of the others species of the Dinophysis community in these areas are not as clear. In addition, species identification within the D. acuminata complex has proven difficult due to their highly similar morphological features. In the present study, 30 clonal strains of the dominant Dinophysis species have been isolated from French coasts including the English Channel (3 sites), the Atlantic Ocean (11 sites) and the Mediterranean Sea (6 sites). Morphologically, strains were identified as three species: D. acuta, D. caudata, D. tripos, as well as the D. acuminata-complex. Sequences of the ITS and LSU rDNA regions confirmed these identifications and revealed no genetic difference within the D. acuminata-complex. Using the mitochondrial gene cox1, two groups of strains differing by only one substitution were found in the D. acuminata-complex, but SEM analysis of various strains showed a large range of morphological variations. Based on geographical origin and morphology, strains of the subclade A were ascribed to ‘D. acuminata’ while those of the subclade B were ascribed to ‘D. sacculus’. Nevertheless, the distinction into two separate species remains questionable and was not supported by our genetic data. The considerable variations observed in cultured strains suggest that physiological factors might influence cell contour and bias identification. Analyses of Dinophysis cultures from French coastal waters using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) revealed species-conserved toxin profiles for D. acuta (dinophysistoxin 2 (DTX2), okadaic acid (OA), pectenotoxin 2 (PTX2)), D. caudata (PTX2) and D. tripos (PTX2), irrespective of geographical origin (Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea). Within the D. acuminata-complex, two different toxin profiles were observed: the strains of ‘D. acuminata’ (subclade A) from the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean contained only OA while strains of ‘D. sacculus’ (subclade B) from Mediterranean Sea/Atlantic Ocean contained PTX2 as the dominant toxin, with OA and C9-esters also being present, albeit in lower proportions. The same difference in toxin profiles between ‘D. sacculus’ and ‘D. acuminata’ was reported in several studies from Galicia (NW- Spain). This difference in toxin profiles has consequences in terms of public health, and consequently for monitoring programs. While toxin profile could appear as a reliable feature separating ‘D. acuminata’ from ‘D. sacculus’ on both French and Spanish coasts, this does not seem consistent with observations on a broader geographical scale for the D. acuminata complex, possibly due to the frequent lack of genetic characterization.

Phylogeography in an \u201coyster\u201d shell provides first insights into the genetic structure of an extinct Ostrea edulis population

The historical phylogeography of Ostrea edulis was successfully depicted in its native range for the first time using ancient DNA methods on dry shells from museum collections. This research reconstructed the historical population structure of the European flat oyster across Europe in the 1870s—including the now extinct population in the Wadden Sea. In total, four haplogroups were identified with one haplogroup having a patchy distribution from the North Sea to the Atlantic coast of France. This irregular distribution could be the result of translocations. The other three haplogroups are restricted to narrow geographic ranges, which may indicate adaptation to local environmental conditions or geographical barriers to gene flow. The phylogenetic reconstruction of the four haplogroups suggests the signatures of glacial refugia and postglacial expansion. The comparison with present-day O. edulis populations revealed a temporally stable population genetic pattern over the past 150 years despite large-scale translocations. This historical phylogeographic reconstruction was able to discover an autochthonous population in the German and Danish Wadden Sea in the late nineteenth century, where O. edulis is extinct today. The genetic distinctiveness of a now-extinct population hints at a connection between the genetic background of O. edulis in the Wadden Sea and for its absence until today.

Numerical Assessment of Onshore Wave Energy in France: Wave Energy, Conversion and Cost

There are few general analyses of the interest of onshore wave energy converters (onshore WEC) in terms of resources, efficiency and cost. The case of The Channel on the Atlantic coast of France is chosen here to illustrate the issues related to onshore WEC development. The paper presents a list of potential sites with their characteristics and a more in-depth analysis of a few sites. For four onshore WEC families, the production is given with a method of calculating the efficiency and economic analysis is carried out to estimate the energy cost at two selected sites. Annual wave power levels are maximum in Bayonne with 24 kW/m, and the lengths of useful dikes vary from 60 m in Molène up to 4000 m in Cherbourg. Wave reflection on the dike is an advantage in terms of energy production. The oscillating flaps constitute the systems with the highest efficiency, and the float systems have the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCoE), followed closely by the oscillating flaps. Oscillating water columns and overtopping systems have nearly five times these LCoEs. With mass production, costs of oscillating floats and flaps will approach those of other renewable energies such as solar and wind power.

Historical translocations and stocking alter the genetic structure of a Mediterranean lobster fishery.

Stocking is often used to supplement wild populations that are overexploited or have collapsed, yet it is unclear how this affects the genetic diversity of marine invertebrate populations. During the 1970s, a lobster stock enhancement program was carried out around the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean using individuals translocated from the Atlantic coast of France. This included the release of thousands of hatchery‐reared postlarval lobsters and several adult individuals, but no monitoring plan was established to assess whether these animals survived and recruited to the population. In this study, we sampled European lobster (Homarus gammarus) individuals caught around Corsica and tested whether they showed Atlantic ancestry. Due to a natural marked phylogeographic break between Atlantic and Mediterranean lobsters, we hypothesized that lobsters with dominant (>0.50) Atlantic ancestry were descended from historical stocking releases. Twenty Corsican lobsters were genotyped at 79 single nucleotide polymorphisms, and assignment analysis showed that the majority (13) had dominant Atlantic ancestry. This suggests that the hatchery stocking program carried out in Corsica during the 1970s, using individuals translocated from the Atlantic coast of France, has likely augmented local recruitment but at a cost of altering the genetic structure of the Corsican lobster population.

Luc-François Granier's Dreams of Moby-Dick

Luc-François Granier's Dreams of Moby-Dick Gordon M. Poole The presentation of Luc-François Granier's book of paintings inspired by Moby-Dick, held in Palazzo Contarini-Polignac, Venice, in January 2019, included the exhibition of the original 72 pen-sketch cum watercolor paintings (Luc-François Granier, Moby Dick, ed. Giovanni Andrea Semerano. Rome: La Camera Verde, 2019; the book holds only the illustrations, not the text of Moby-Dick). Granier is a French painter as well as a creator of installations, videos, carvings in polystyrene and various other materials, novelist, illustrator of books for children and adults, playwright, and translator from Italian, German, and Spanish into French. He has lived and worked off and on for some years in Venice, becoming well-known in intellectual and pictorial circles; he is also a companionable presence in his favorite restaurants and coffee-bars. And he is hooked on Moby-Dick. Before ever having visited Venice, in an unedited sketch from which we shall be quoting titled "365 Rêves de Moby Dick," he tells of a reproduction in the house of his "philosopher grandmother" depicting none other than the very Palazzo Contarini-Polignac where the exhibition of his work was held. We'll come back to the "philosopher grandmother" in a bit. He recalls that it must have been 1983, in mid-winter, when he chanced upon the same reproduction hanging in the hall of another building, on the Atlantic coast of France where he was touring, and it was this coincidence that moved him to lodge there. It so happened that Moby-Dick was his sole companion in his lodgings, while the shutters were suggestively buffeted by boreal storms and icy spray. While he read in the least cold room, all bundled up, he whittled and molded some of the main characters of Melville's romance into figurines. In his words (I translate from the French), "On the mantelpiece sat a piece of jetsam, called Queequeg, pocked with holes; another one shaped like a fish was Moby, while Captain Ahab lived in a sprig of heather I had scraped clean with my fingernails and capped with a plastic bellflower" ("365 Rêves"). It is clear that Granier reacted to Melville's novel from the start in his own peculiar way, turning some of its protagonists into symbols, or perhaps totems or idols. So when he came to Rome in 2015, he was already primed for Melville, and it was there that his readings as a young man bore fruit. He had come on a visit to Giovanni Andrea Semerano, a publisher of elegant books and [End Page 123] organizer of excellent cultural events, who was bringing out Granier's novel La Pierre (The Stone). To while away the time during a lengthy publishing process, Granier took up Moby-Dick again, making illustrative paintings whenever he felt the urge. By February 2017 he had amassed 72 illustrations. In "365 Rêves" he itemizes the results: The last three days, with the final hunt, took up a full twelve drawings. The last water color shows the narrator grasping the coffin lifesaver that had been his friend's. Ishmael and the remembrance of Queequeg. The remaining 59 include two introductory ones, the first representing my recollections of Atlantic readings, the second representing Moby Dick smashing the colosseum to pieces; and they sweep me into his wake to pursue my dreamlike meanderings through the pages of the romance ("365 Rêves"). Why would Moby Dick destroy the colosseum? Perhaps the whale saw the colosseum, in Granier's mind, as representative of an imperial Roman ship of state, with the slaughter of wild animals and the combat between gladiators, sometimes to the death. Or, perhaps he saw it as an image of the United States, warring against the environment and now mired in its global power projection, symbolized in the Pequod, a worldwide war against whatever the white whale might be taken to symbolize. In a countryside estate in the town of Tuscania (in the Italian Lazio regione) in the summer before the 2019 Venice exhibition, the present writer had already seen Granier's 72 paintings when they were exhibited...

Monitoring and management of coastal hazards: Creation of a regional observatory of coastal erosion and storm surges in the pays de la Loire region (Atlantic coast, France)

The OR2C (Observatoire Régional des Risques Côtiers) is a new observatory of coastal hazards located in the Pays de la Loire region on the Atlantic coast of France. It was created, in 2016, in a context of high regional vulnerability to coastal erosion and storm surges. The OR2C is in charge of monitoring nearly 400 km of coastline. Its major mission is to reinforce the scientific knowledge and improve tools for managing coastal hazards, reducing thus exposure to risks. Its set-up is also related to the need of a regional body to gather all parties involved in researching and managing coastal hazards, with the aim to create a regional dynamic of observation. The OR2C is based on original governance that creates a strong interface between academics and managers because it combines public institutions, research centers, decisional bodies, and operational bodies. This governance strengthens the dynamic of observation of coastal erosion and storm surges along the regional coast by improving the networking of the OR2C twenty-eight members. Monitoring strategy is based on an airborne LiDAR technology that provides annual topo-bathymetric data. One of the OR2C first actions was to establish an initial LiDAR acquisition survey (t0) in 2016 along 140 km of sandy coasts. The obtained data are updated every year and freely accessible to the coastal managers. The data are also used in an innovative toolbox of spatial analysis of coastal risks (MAp-RISC), which has an ability to map predisposition of coastal sectors exposed to coastal hazards. MAp-RISC provides several indicators to support decision-making, and could also be used in the future to update policies or strategic documents.

Morphology, ultrastructure and molecular phylogeny of cyst-producing Caladoa arcachonensis gen. et sp. nov. (Peridiniales, Dinophyceae) from France and Indonesia

ABSTRACTThe dinoflagellate order Peridiniales encompasses several well circumscribed families. However, the family level of some genera, such as Bysmatrum and Vulcanodinium, has remained elusive for many years. Four Peridinium-like strains were established from the Atlantic coast of France and North Sulawesi, Indonesia through cyst germination or isolation of single cells. The cyst-theca relationship was established on specimens from the French Atlantic. Their morphologies were examined using light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The cells were characterized by a much larger epitheca relative to the hypotheca, a large anterior sulcal (Sa) plate deeply intruding the epitheca and a small first anterior intercalary plate. The plate formula was identified as Po, cp, X, 4′, 3a, 7′′, 6C, 5S, 5′′′, 2′′′′, shared by Apocalathium, Chimonodinium, Fusiperidinium and Scrippsiella of the family Thoracosphaeraceae but the configuration of Sa plate and anterior intercalary plates is different. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the eyespot was located within a chloroplast comprising two rows of lipid globules and thus belongs to type A. All four strains were classified within a new genus Caladoa as C. arcachonensis gen. et sp. nov. Small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA), partial large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) and internal transcribed spacer ribosomal DNA (ITS rDNA) sequences were obtained from all strains. Genetic distance based on ITS rDNA sequences between French and Indonesian strains reached 0.17, suggesting cryptic speciation in C. arcachonensis. The maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analysis based on concatenated data from SSU and LSU rDNA sequences revealed that Caladoa is monophyletic and closest to Bysmatrum. Our results supported that Caladoa and Bysmatrum are members of the order Peridiniales but their family level remains to be determined. Our results also support that Vulcanodinium is closest to the family Peridiniaceae.