Atlantic Islands Research Articles

Small Islands, Small Ponds, Small Communities-Water Beetles and Water Boatmen in the Faroe Islands.

Simple SummaryThe Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic consist of several small islands, and numerous small freshwater ponds can be found on most of them. These ponds are inhabited by species-poor aquatic communities. Faroese ponds are thus simple systems which lend themselves well to studying diversity of water insects and their interactions with the environment, which ultimately contributes to our understanding of patterns of biodiversity. In this study, we systematically collected water beetles and water boatmen from 57 ponds on the islands Streymoy and Eysturoy to obtain information on species distributions, diversity, and community composition, as well as their relationship with habitat characteristics. We found six small species of Dytiscidae and Haliplidae (Coleoptera) and two species of Corixidae (Heteroptera). There was a higher species diversity in shallower ponds, and community composition differed according to pond size. Geographical location and isolation between ponds did not influence diversity and community composition. We thus conclude that the distribution of water beetles and water boatmen in the Faroes is explained by habitat characteristics, specifically size and depth of the pond.Water beetles of the families Dytiscidae and Haliplidae (Coleoptera) as well as water boatmen (Heteroptera: Corixidae) are well-studied groups in Northern Europe. In the Faroe Islands, their diversity is much lower than in the British Isles and Fennoscandia. Here, we first describe the communities of water beetles and water boatmen in Faroese ponds and, secondly, assess whether community compositions are driven by habitat characteristics or dispersal abilities of species. To this end, we sampled 57 ponds, ranging between <50 m2 and >50,000 m2. Environmental variables such as pond size, temperature, pH, and depth were measured, and distance to nearest neighboring pond was calculated as a measure of isolation. The sampling yielded 1522 individuals of eight species, with species richness of the ponds ranging between zero and six. Pond size (shoreline length) did explain differences in community composition, whereas water depth explained differences in diversity indices with lower diversity in deeper ponds. We found species-specific relations between abundance and shoreline length, e.g., H. fulvus and H. palustris being restricted to larger ponds. Lastly, water beetle and water boatmen communities in Faroese ponds are discussed in the light of island biogeography and species distributions in the North Atlantic islands.

Long-term changes in the inversion chromosomal polymorphism: Drosophila subobscura population from Rasht (north of Iran)

Drosophila subobscura is characterized by a rich chromosomal polymorphism for inversions. Many inversions are adaptive to global warming and can be classified as 'warm' or 'cold' adapted. However, most studies were carried out from European populations located in the central area of the species distribution or from American colonizing populations. For this reason, we aimed to analyse the isolated and marginal Rasht population, located in the Hyrcanian forests area (Iran). The chromosomal polymorphism for inversions was compared with the previous Rasht samples (Rasht I and II) obtained 57 years ago. This polymorphism has changed based on the inversion composition and frequencies. Interestingly, the polymorphism for inversions was scarce and similar to that of Madeira, an isolated Atlantic island. Likely, this similarity is a consequence of the marginal location and isolation of the Rasht population. Also, the chromosomal thermal index (CTI) was 0.445, showing a significant increase over those from Rasht I (0.184) and II (0.210). All these observations were in agreement with the global warming expectations. Moreover, the CTI was also computed for Russian Caucasus and Turkish populations collected more than 40 years ago to better understand the adaptive potential of D. subobscura and to study the similarity between populations of different geographic areas. In summary, the inversions of D. subobscura also changed in marginal and isolated populations in agreement with the global warming expectations, and an open question is to know where is the threshold for this evolutionary change.

Study for Recycling Water Treatment Membranes and Compnents towards a Circular Economy-Case of Macaronesia Area.

Desalination is an opportunity to get fresh water for irrigation and for drinking. Reverse Osmosis (RO) for sea water desalination is a solution for the high demand for water in Atlantic islands. The most efficient process to get desalinated water is RO; however, it is necessary to study what to do with the RO membranes used at the end of their life. This paper confirms the possibility to recycle them. The main categories of recycling by thermal processing commonly used in the industry include incineration and pyrolysis to produce energy, gas and fuel. These processes can be applied to mixed plastic waste, such as the combination of materials used in the manufacture of RO membranes. Recycling RO elements from desalination plants is shown to be an opportunity and pioneering initiatives are already underway in Europe. Energy recovery, via incineration, is feasible nowadays and it is a possibility to recycle RO membranes. On the other hand, the recycling of RO elements, via the pyrolytic industry, for fuel production could be centralized in a new industry already planned in the Macaronesia area and all obsolete osmosis membranes could be sent there for recycling. Recycling RO membranes is a very important opportunity for the environment and economy of the zone. This is a new business in water treatments with membranes, very interesting for decreasing the residues and the carbon footprint. The importance of this work is applied to sea water membranes, brackish water ones, and also wastewater tertiaries RO elements at the end of their life.

Distribution and diversity of cyanobacteria in the Azores Archipelago: An annotated checklist.

Knowledge about cyanobacteria diversity in the Azores is spread over several publications, dating from 1874, with some of them not generally available to the scientific community due to their restricted access. The dispersion and sometimes inaccessibility of this information hinder a deeper analysis and a better understanding of the biodiversity of the Azores Islands and more general ecological processes in oceanic islands. Here we present the first checklist of cyanobacteria for the Azores Archipelago with updated taxonomy of all recorded taxa. This work provides a compiled and annotated checklist of all known cyanobacteria from the Azores Archipelago with morphological identification from preserved samples and cultures, based on published literature. All records of taxa known to occur in the Azores were taxonomically updated. The present checklist comprises 225 taxa distributed by six orders (Chroococcales, Nostocales, Oscillatoriales, Pleurocapsales, Spirulinales and Synechococcales). Our literature review reveals that the Azores Archipelago hosts a high diversity of cyanobacteria, despite several overlooked habitats that may present great potential regarding cyanobacteria diversity. Increasing efforts to study these neglected habitats could contribute to the knowledge of cyanobacteria taxonomy. This checklist provides the basis for future works on the taxonomy and taxa richness of cyanobacteria in the Azores and the Atlantic Islands, as also for understanding and monitoring non-indigenous and invasive species.

Molecular characterisation of the current cultivars of &lt;i&gt;Vitis vinifera&lt;/i&gt; L. in Lanzarote (Canary Islands, Spain) reveals nine individuals which correspond to eight new varieties and two new sports

Vine was reintroduced to the volcanic island of Lanzarote (Spain) more than 300 years ago. The phylloxera plague has never reached the island; consequently, Vitis vinifera L. has evolved continuously since then due to the influence of some abiotic factors, such as low rainfall and strong winds. The aim of this study was to determine the inter- and intra-varietal diversity of the island’s vines and the potential evolution of singularity. Two hundred and twenty-three samples were genotyped with 20 SSR (Simple Sequence Repeats). The following results were obtained from these analyses: 8 new varieties (Blanca de la granja del cabildo (W), Burra chinija (W), Diego chinija (W), Lemes del Cabezo (W), Malvasia alistanada fina (W), Malvasia alistanada rustica (W) (a mutation of Malvasia alistanada fina), Sinforiano chano (Rs), Uvillón negro (R), Vijariego blanco de la granja (W)), and 2 new sports (Chasselas lajiares (Rs) and Diego de El Raso rosado (Rs)). In addition, scientific studies on varieties from the island of Lanzarote describe four local cultivars: Breval negro (Rg), Malvasia volcanica (W), Torrontes volcanico (W) and Uva de año (R), which means that a total of 12 local varieties and 2 colour mutations have been described for this Atlantic island. It should also be noted that the appearance of 100 new molecular profiles with their corresponding names represents an unprecedented lexical enrichment. Lanzarote can be considered a centre of biodiversity, as is the Canary archipelago as a whole. Their vines have evolved to such an extent that they are now genetically different from the original populations. The vines from Lanzarote could be of great interest to the wine sector, as they can act as a nursery from which better-adapted vines can be obtained to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Phylogenetic history drives reef fish community response to environmental variability in Southwestern Atlantic oceanic islands

Phylogenetic history drives reef fish community response to environmental variability in Southwestern Atlantic oceanic islands

Degenerate ecocinema: indexing entropy with drones

The drone both embodies and documents the decay of Earth systems. As a networked computer technology, it is built from metals and minerals extracted from the Earth. As an elevated and mobile camera, it records vast infrastructures, industrial rivers, and mass extinction on the ground below. The drone is a creative tool that comes from and witnesses destruction. This article explores how the drone’s form and function indexes degenerate ecocinema through discussion of four drone videos I have recently produced: Points of Presence (2017), on internet infrastructure across North Atlantic islands; Crash Theory (2019), on endangered life throughout the world; Overburden (2022), on hydrocarbon fuel infrastructure in Australia; and Organic Machine (2022), on the labouring Mersey River of Liverpool, UK. This article accompanies an installation of these videos in the Open Eye Gallery’s LOOK Climate Lab in Liverpool, UK, January 2022.

Ecological Traits and Trophic Plasticity in The Greater Pipefish Syngnathus acus in the NW Iberian Peninsula.

Simple SummaryThe population of the pipefish Syngnathus acus inhabiting Cíes Archipelago (NW Spain) was monitored in 2017–2018 for spatial and temporal changes in abundances, reproduction traits, trophic niche occupancy, and dietary regimes across reproduction states, through an isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) approach. The population consisted almost exclusively of large adults, whose abundances decreased significantly from mid-autumn after the breeding season. S. acus is a secondary consumer that prefers amphipods, but mature specimens were less selective than immature fish. The present study highlights the outstanding size of the fish and the exceptional occurrence of breeders on the studied area.The great pipefish Syngnathus acus is one of the most representative European syngnathids, being highly associated with seagrass and macroalgal beds. Surprisingly, the ecology of this large ovoviviparous marine fish has received scanty attention. The population inhabiting three sites on Cíes Archipelago (Atlantic Islands National Park, NW Spain) was monitored in 2017–2018 for spatial and temporal changes in abundances, reproduction traits, trophic niche occupancy, and dietary regimes across reproduction states, through an isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) approach. Abundances were highly variable across seasons and sites, decreasing significantly from mid-autumn. The population consisted almost exclusively of large adults that migrate by the end of the breeding season, which extended from mid-spring to summer. Operational sex ratios suggest that the species is sex-role reversed. S. acus is a secondary consumer (Trophic position = 3.36 ± 0.05), preferring amphipods but displaying annual and seasonal dietary plasticity. Mature fish were less selective than immatures (especially females), with a higher preference for amphipods (36–68%) in the former. The second most-preferred prey were carideans, copepods, or isopods, depending on the year and the reproduction state. Overall, the wider trophic niches in females and immature specimens compared to males and mature fish would indicate a higher variability in both the use of prey resources and/or their origin. The present study highlights the trophic plasticity and unique features of S. acus population in the Cíes Archipelago, especially regarding the outstanding size of the fish and the exceptional occurrence of breeders.

Into the New World: first report of introduction of the Portuguese millipede Ommatoiulus moreleti (Lucas, 1860) (Julida: Julidae) in South America and its potential invasion range into the continent

Summary The Portuguese millipede Ommatoiulus moreleti (Lucas, 1860) is widespread by commerce in Atlantic Islands, Australia, and South Africa, besides being regarded as a pest infesting plantations of vegetables and fruits. To date, the species has never been recorded in South America. In this study, we report for the first time the occurrence of O. moreleti in Brazil, with adults and immatures collected in the municipality of Campos do Jordão, São Paulo state. A maximum entropy model was used to explore the predicted distribution of the species in South America. The results showed a highly suitable area in the continent (AUC = 0.987), mainly in the Atlantic Forest, and regions of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Considering percent contribution, the annual mean temperature (= 34%) and the temperature seasonality (= 33.4%) were the main variables which influenced the modeling. The potential risks of invasion of O. moreleti must be highlighted, including possible competition with native millipedes, its being a significant agricultural pest, and its successful invasion into new habitat without natural enemies.

Thresholds in Road Network Functioning on US Atlantic and Gulf Barrier Islands

AbstractBarrier islands predominate the Atlantic and Gulf coastlines of the USA, where population and infrastructure growth exceed national trends. Forward‐looking models of barrier island dynamics often include feedbacks with real estate markets and management practices aimed at mitigating damage to buildings from natural hazards. However, such models thus far do not account for networks of infrastructure, such as roads, and how the functioning of infrastructure networks might influence management strategies. Understanding infrastructure networks on barrier islands is an essential step toward improved insight into the future dynamics of human‐altered barriers. Here, we examine thresholds in the functioning of 72 US Atlantic and Gulf Coast barrier islands. We use digital elevation models to assign an elevation to each intersection in each road network. From each road network we sequentially remove intersections, starting from the lowest elevation. We use the maxima of the second giant connected component to identify a specific intersection—and corresponding elevation—at which functioning of the network fails, and we match the elevation of each critical intersection to local annual exceedance probabilities for extreme high‐water levels. We find a range of failure thresholds for barrier island road network functioning, and also find that no single metric—absolute elevation, annual exceedance probability, or a quantitative metric of robustness—sufficiently ranks the susceptibility of barrier road networks to failure. Future work can incorporate thresholds for road network into forward‐looking models of barrier island dynamics that include hazard‐mitigation practices for protecting infrastructure.

To facilitate a fair bioeconomy transition, stronger regional‐level linkages are needed

AbstractThe great hopes in Brussels that a circular bioeconomy will help bridge the growing divide between urban and rural areas and allow the hinterlands to prosper from ‘green growth’ are addressed in this article, which reflects on insights from three Nordic case studies of brown, green and blue biomass use at different levels of technology readiness. A closer examination of the forward, backward, fiscal and final demand linkages at regional level from increased biomass utilization, from eastern Finland and northern Sweden to Jutland and North Atlantic islands, suggests that linkages are and will remain relatively weak, predominantly dashing the expectations. As suppliers and exporters of natural resources, disadvantaged regions may all too easily get locked into a ‘staples trap’, where the value creation evaporates owing in part to the steep start‐up costs and the associated boom‐and‐bust cycles, which place them in a weak position vis‐à‐vis the resource manufacturers and consumers. To make the prospects of development, employment and prosperity in the hinterlands materialize, measures are needed to strengthen the regional‐level economic linkages. Regional‐level revolving funds based on benefit‐sharing instruments related to natural resources can be used to bolster economic development, as reflected in such schemes present in both China and Canada. We call for further research into whether and how such approaches can be replicated successfully by channeling revenues from biomass cultivation to regional‐scale revolving funds, with mandates to strengthen long‐term economic linkages and prosperity within the hinterlands. © 2022 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley &amp; Sons Ltd

The Rapid Effects of Yellow-Legged Gull (Larus michahellis) Colony on Dune Habitats and Plant Landscape in the Atlantic Islands National Park (NW Spain)

The Atlantic Islands of Galicia Maritime/Terrestrial National Park hosts one of the largest breeding colonies of yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) in the world. In 2002, a new yellow-legged gull breeding colony was established on the Punta Muxieiro dune complex, which also harbors rare and threatened plant species and habitat types of community interest according to Directive 92/43/EEC. This study assesses the effect of this colony on two habitats of community interest: white dunes and grey dunes. For this purpose, plant cover and soil properties, composition, and nutrient content were monitored in plots with different gull densities. Moreover, historic aerial images were compiled to observe changes in the plant landscape of the dune system. The results showed that, despite the recentness of the occupation of the dune system by yellow-legged gull species, significant changes in acidic–alkaline processes and nutrient availability were already observed in soils. Soils in plots with higher gull density showed more acidic pH values and a higher content of the most labile N and P fractions. Moreover, a decrease in plant cover and number of species was also demonstrated in plots with higher gull densities. Finally, the presence of ruderal and alien species such as Urtica membranacea and Parietaria judaica was also observed.

Island biogeography predicts skull gigantism and shape variation in meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus through ecological release and allometry

Island rule describes the graded trend of gigantism in small‐bodied species to dwarfism in large‐bodied species inhabiting islands, but causal explanations remain unresolved. We used geometric morphometrics to quantify cranial morphology of 544 meadow vole Microtus pennsylvanicus samples across 11 island and 3 mainland populations from the Outer Lands of New England (Atlantic) and the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska (Pacific). We compared the thermoregulation and endurance (TRE) and ecological release (ER) hypotheses using all‐subsets linear models employing residual randomization permutation procedures (rrpp), and Akaike information criterion (AIC) for model selection. We decoupled direct and indirect effects of island variables on size using path analysis. We evaluated shape with principal components analysis (PCA) and Procrustes ANOVA on Procrustes shape coordinates, then assessed the impact of static allometry and TRE and ER variables on shape. Six Atlantic island populations exhibit significant signals of gigantism with the largest voles occurring on the smallest islands lacking predators. ER explains 63% of cranial size differences. Island area has a significant total effect on size by influencing the number of mammalian predators, resulting in a 0.011 increase in unit centroid size for a 100 km2 decrease in island area. This corresponds to a predicted 0.9% change in size for every 100 km2. Given static allometry, cranial shape does not respond to insularity independent of size. These results suggest that island rule is a latent evolutionary process whose manifestation depends on nuanced biogeographic and ecological contexts that have important conservation and taxonomic implications.

De Madeira a Canarias. Fray Gerardo de Abreu (1748-1787...) y los frontales pintados de altar

In this paper we study the biography of the painter Gerardo Francisco de Abreu (1748-1787...), born in Funchal and resident in Santa Cruz de Tenerife during the 1770s. With these circumstances and his hypothetical profession as a Franciscan friar in 1779, the context that made possible a previous learning is analyzed, as well as the conservative sense of the work that he attended at the end of the 18th century and, specially, the value that he acquires to establish artistic interrelationships between the Atlantic islands, an extensible phenomenon to several painters of the Villavicencio family. From an altarpiece frontal signed and dated in 1787, two more can be attributed to him, preserved in La Orotava and Los Realejos.

Gilduin Davy, La Saga des diseurs de loi: Esquisse juridique de l’Islande médiévale, Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2021, 454 pp.

Abstract This thorough study is both long overdue and comes from an unexpected quarter. Davy is professor of the history of law at l’Université Paris-Nanterre. The lawman (lgmaðr) of his title and other legal advisors are well known to readers of the sagas of Icelanders but, as is the case of the master litigator Njáll Þorgeirsson, “Burnt Njall,” it is more as active players in court cases generated by feud than as more elevated and distant patrons of the law as institution. The best-known feature of the office of law speaker, as he is also known, was to have memorized the entire law code, at the pre-literate stage of this society, and to proclaim one third of it each year at the island-wide assembly over which he presided. This is the first modern study of the office of law man and its author is uniquely placed, by virtue of his familiarity with the Icelandic and Norwegian material, to trace its insufficiently studied development. Davy is also alert to the possible origins of law in what began in historical time with the settlement, and social and legal organization of an unpopulated North Atlantic island. As is to be expected, the laws of Norway, where a majority of the settlers originated, would have offered a ready model and there does seem to have been a transfer en bloc of Norwegian jurisprudence. But many of the settler generation would have had experience of raiding, trading, and residence in the British Isles, particularly Ireland, which had its own large body of jurisprudence, possibly dating from the seventh century. Davy’s project is even more ambitious in that he seeks to discover the very foundations of law, its mythical and legendary origins, and conceptual underpinning.

Обзор синтаксонов псаммофитной травяной растительности Южного Нечерноземья России

The article provides a survey of grass psammophylous vegetation syntaxa in the Southern Nechernozemye of Russia and validation of syntaxa in accordance with the requirements of the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature (Theurillat et al., 2021); questions of syntaxonomy and diagnosis of units of different levels of the syntaxonomical hierarchy are discussed. The data for the analysis was the base obtained in 2018–2021, including 312 relevés of psammophylous grass vegetation in the Southern Nechernozemye of Russia (Bryansk, Kaluga, south-west of Moscow, north-west of Oryol, Smolensk Regions). Most of the relevés were made on the watershed of two large river systems: the Dnieper (the Sozh river basin) and the Volga (the Oka river basin) while some ones are in the northwestern part of the Smolensk region (Demidovsky district, Smolenskoye Poozerye National Park), which belongs to the Zapadnaya Dvina basin. Natural psammophytic habitats in this region are widespread on outwash plains, sandy river terraces dominated by pine forests of the alliance Dicrano–Pinion sylvestris (Libb. 1933) W. Mat. 1962 nom. conserv. propos. Open sands are formed in the place of such forests after clear felling of pine with the destruction of the living land cover. In addition, psammophylous grass vegetation forms on non-flooded or short-flooded sandy ridges in river floodplains, on plowed sands that were opened during construction, along sand pits, on clearings under power lines, along old abandoned roads on sand embankments and sandy roads fallow lands and pastures with sandy and sandy loam soils (Kupreev et al., 2020). The psammophylous grass vegetation of the studied region is represented by 12 associations comprising 4 alliances and 2 orders of the class Koelerio–Corynephoretea canescentis Klika in Klika et Novák 1941, which unites dry grasslands on sandy soils and on rocky outcrops of the temperate to boreal zones of Europe, the North Atlantic islands and Greenland (Mucina et al., 2016). On the basis of comparative analysis for alliances and orders we compiled regional combinations of diagnostic species with constancy in coenoflora above 20 % and values of the statistical φ-coefficient above 20 (at p &lt;0.01): Armerion elongatae (Armeria maritima, Astragalus arenarius, Dianthus fisheri, Jovibarba globifera, Jurinea cyanoides, Koeleria glauca), Corynephorion canesentis (Corynephorus canescens), Hyperico perforati–Scleranthion perennis (Berteroa incana, Festuca ovina, Helichrysum arenarium, Hypericum perforatum, Jasione montana, Pilosella officinarum, Rumex acetosella, Scleranthus perennis, Trifolium arvense). The following species diagnose the orders of psammophylous vegetation: Corynephoretalia canescentis (Chamaecytisus ruthenicus, Cladonia arbuscula, Corynephorus canescens, Jurinea cyanoides, Koeleria glauca, Sedum acre) and Trifolio arvensis–Festucetalia ovinae (Abietinella abietina, Elytrigia repens, Hieracium umbellatum, Jasione montana, Festuca ovina, F. rubra, Galium mollugo, Pilosella officinarum, Plantago lanceolata, Poa angustifolia, Trifolium arvense, Viola tricolor). Diagnostic combinations of alliances partly duplicate those of orders, and some species are the diagnostic for two alliances, which does not contradict the logic of syntaxonomy. Analysis of the comparative table showed that all syntaxa of psammophylous vegetation taken for analysis can be fully assigned to the class Koelerio–Corynephoretea canescentis in accordance with its current diagnosis (Mucina et al., 2016). According to the ratio of the diagnostic species of the classes Koelerio–Corynephoretea canescentis and Sedo-Scleranthetea, it is not possible to divide syntaxa into two groups. In general, in the Southern Nechernozemye of Russia, typical natural habitats characteristic of the Central European communities of the class Sedo-Scleranthetea are virtually absent. They are imitated by anthropogenic ecotopes with washed out or trampled, usually heavily disturbed, rubble substrates. Probably, it is possible to classify some types of grass communities that form here on the slopes of railways and roads, on overgrown stony dumps, strongly compacted as a result of trampling or the passage of vehicles, to the class Sedo-Scleranthetea. However, the assigning of these communities to this class is debatable. A significant part of the studied phytocoenoses was assigned to 7 non-rank units — «communities» within the class Koelerio–Corynephoretea canescentis. These are, firstly, pioneer and, as a rule, sparse or floristically incomplete psammophylous communities at the initial stages of succession with the participation of widespread grass psammophilic oligotrophs. Secondly, these are monodominant phytocoenoses formed after anthropogenic disturbance of psammophylous vegetation, for example, on fallow lands and clearings in pine forests on sandy and sandy loam soils; after fires, trampling. The names of these syntaxa are given according to the dominant plant species.

Areas of endemism in the Afrotropical region based on the geographical distribution of Tipulomorpha (Insecta: Diptera)

AbstractThis article explores the distributional data of 2440 occurrence records for 1415 Tipulomorpha (Insecta: Diptera) species to search endemism patterns in the Afrotropical region and to propose a regionalisation scheme. The results were compared to areas of endemism proposed in previous works for other taxa. Areas of endemism were established using NDM/VNDM based on a grid size of 8° and consensus cut‐off of 24%. In this study, five subregions were found: Arabian, Atlantic, Indian, Southern Africa and Central Africa. These subregions are divided into 12 dominions: Arabian Peninsula, Atlantic Islands, Central Africa, Central Madagascar, Eastern Africa, Indian Ocean, Northwestern Africa, Southeastern Africa, Southern Africa, Southern Madagascar, Southwestern Africa and Western Africa. There is a general congruence of the dominions with the distribution of the main hydrographic basins and divisions of the forests of Madagascar.

Cruise destination characteristics and performance: Application of a conceptual model to North Atlantic islands of Macaronesia

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model for both port and cruise destinations composed by site and situation-related factors as the main drivers with a direct influence on the performance of the cruise destination. A moderator variable was also included on the model, due to the different characteristics that cruise ports at distinct levels of development present. The conceptual model was then applied on the North Atlantic archipelagos of the Macaronesia region through a survey aimed at cruise specialists and stakeholders. The results of a structural equation model confirmed the concept model, which was subsequently validated through several interviews to senior officials of cruise line operators. Significant differences were observed between the more developed ports of the region and the less developed ports . For the more developed ports, there is a shared influence of both site- and situation-related factors, while in the less developed ports the main drivers are mostly restricted to site-related factors.

Distribution and ten-year temporal trends (2009–2018) of perfluoroalkyl substances in gull eggs from Spanish breeding colonies

Gull eggs are excellent bioindicators of environmental pollution as reflect the contamination levels of coastal areas, especially of persistent and bioacumulative compounds such as perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This study aims to evaluate the geographical distribution and 10-year temporal trends (2009–2018) of 17 PFAS in eggs of two gull species (Larus michahellis and Larus audouinii) from 5 main Spanish colonies. ∑PFAS ranged from 13.7 ± 5.9 to 164 ± 17 ng g−1 wet weight and higher concentrations were observed in L. audouinii than in L. michahellis. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was the predominant compound in all samples, followed by perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA) and perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTriDA). Perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFNA) were also found in all studied areas but at lower concentrations, while perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was only detected in the Medes Islands. Principal Component Analysis revealed the co-occurrence of the 6 detected PFAS, and differentiated samples from Ebro Delta and Medes Islands, both located in the North-Eastern Mediterranean Sea, with high contribution of all PFAS, from Chafarinas and Atlantic Islands with lower concentration levels and variability. Also, different patterns were observed among colonies, suggesting the fish-based diet plays an important role in PFAS bioaccumulation. In all colonies, except for the Medes Islands, ∑PFAS decreased through the 10-year study period, with PFOS, PFUnA, and PFTriDA showing a significant concentration reduction in a colony-specific manner. This study demonstrates the usefulness and importance of continuous systematic long-term monitoring to determine the geographical distribution and temporal variations of PFAS in marine protected areas using gull eggs as bioindicators of environmental pollution.

Structure and Trophic Niches in Mobile Epifauna Assemblages Associated With Seaweeds and Habitats of Syngnathid Fishes in Cíes Archipelago (Atlantic Islands Marine National Park, North West Iberia)

Syngnathids are vulnerable fishes closely associated with seaweeds and seagrass, which provide shelter and food resources. Even though most syngnathids commonly feed on small crustaceans, the feeding regimes may differ depending on the species and prey availability. This is the first monitoring study to explain syngnathid abundances and dietary regimes within macroalgal beds in Cíes Archipelago (Atlantic Islands Marine National Park, North West Iberian Peninsula). We sampled the epifaunal assemblages in seaweed communities dominated by the canopy-forming macroalgaeGongolaria baccataandCodiumspp. seasonally during 2 years. The epifaunal structure was mostly represented by harpacticoid copepods, amphipods (especially gammarids) and gastropods. Epifauna exhibited low plant-host specificity and a higher dominance of amphipods on the more structurally complex macroalgaeG. baccata.The epifaunal assemblages and syngnathid specimens were assessed for trophic structure using stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N). The three syngnathids (Hippocampus guttulatus,Syngnathus acus, andEntelurus aequoreus) inhabiting Cíes Archipelago were sympatric. They occupied highly similar trophic positions (TPs), but differed in niche size, in such a way that the snake pipefishE. aequoreuswould likely feed on smaller prey. The assessment of the feeding regime in the dominant great pipefishS. acusrevealed that amphipods mostly contributed to bulk diet, followed by isopods, carideans, and copepods, whereas mysidaceans were not highly consumed. Seasonal changes in both epifaunal structure and syngnathids abundance confirmed that syngnathids are seasonal residents in Cíes Archipelago, migrating to other areas in autumn when the seaweed cover is drastically reduced and the epifaunal structure modified. This study showed the importance ofGongolariaassemblages in Cíes Archipelago, providing rich dietary sources and potentially contributing to higher abundances and diversity of syngnathids. Ongoing cover reduction inGongolariaassemblages in certain regions (e.g., Mediterranean) should be considered a potential ecological concern for syngnathids and accompanying fauna, requiring further investigations.