| Accueil | << 1 >> |
|
Bakker, J., Wangensteen, O. S., Chapman, D. D., Boussarie, G., Buddo, D., Guttridge, T. L., et al. (2017). Environmental DNA reveals tropical shark diversity in contrasting levels of anthropogenic impact. Sci Rep, 7, 16886.
Résumé: Sharks are charismatic predators that play a key role in most marine food webs. Their demonstrated vulnerability to exploitation has recently turned them into flagship species in ocean conservation. Yet, the assessment and monitoring of the distribution and abundance of such mobile species in marine environments remain challenging, often invasive and resource-intensive. Here we pilot a novel, rapid and non-invasive environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding approach specifically targeted to infer shark presence, diversity and eDNA read abundance in tropical habitats. We identified at least 21 shark species, from both Caribbean and Pacific Coral Sea water samples, whose geographical patterns of diversity and read abundance coincide with geographical differences in levels of anthropogenic pressure and conservation effort. We demonstrate that eDNA metabarcoding can be effectively employed to study shark diversity. Further developments in this field have the potential to drastically enhance our ability to assess and monitor elusive oceanic predators, and lead to improved conservation strategies.
|
|
Goetze, J., Langlois, T., Claudet, J., Januchowski-Hartley, F., & Jupiter, S. D. (2016). Periodically harvested closures require full protection of vulnerable species and longer closure periods. Biol. Conserv., 203, 67–74.
Résumé: Periodically harvested closures (PHCs) are small fisheries closures with objectives such as sustaining fisheries and conserving biodiversity and have become one of the most common forms of nearshore marine management in the Western Pacific. Although PHCs can provide both short-term conservation and fisheries benefits, their potential as a long-term management strategy remains unclear. Through empirical assessment of a single harvest event in each of five PHCs, we determined whether targeted fishes that differ in their vulnerability to fishing recovered to pre-harvest conditions (the state prior to last harvest) and demonstrated post-harvest recovery benefits after 1 year of re-closure. For low and moderately vulnerable species, two PHCs provided significant pre-harvest benefits and one provided significant post-harvest recovery benefits, suggesting a contribution to longer-term sustainability. PHCs with a combination of high compliance and longer closing times are more likely to provide fisheries benefits and recover from harvest events, however, no benefits were observed across any PHCs for highly vulnerable species. We recommend PHCs have longer closure periods before being harvested and species that are highly vulnerable to fishing (e.g. large species of; grouper, wrasse and parrotfish) are avoided during harvests to avoid overexploitation and increase the sustainability of small-scale fisheries. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
Legras, G., Loiseau, N., & Gaertner, J. - C. (2018). Functional richness: Overview of indices and underlying concepts. Acta Oecol.-Int. J. Ecol., 87, 34–44.
Résumé: Functional richness, currently defined as the amount of niche space occupied by the species within a community, is one of the three major components of functional diversity. Different indices have been developed in order to quantify this component. However, the range of indices available for assessing functional richness, often mathematically complex and based on different rationales, can cause confusion for field ecologists and lead to misinterpretation of the results obtained. In this context, we have provided the first study exclusively focused on the comparison of the definitions, advantages and drawbacks of a large set of functional richness indices. The first part of this work is focused on four indices (FDP&G, FRic, TOP and N-hypervolumes indices) that are currently the most commonly used for assessing functional richness. We have completed our study by including recently developed indices that enable us to take into account the intraspecific trait variability (i.e. FRim index and TDP framework), because there is currently a growing scientific consensus regarding the necessity of including this aspect in the assessment of the functional diversity of communities. We demonstrate that although authors have argued that their index describes the functional richness, each of them describes only part of it, and this part may strongly differ from one index to another. Rather than advocating the general use of a single index and/or systematically avoiding others, our study highlights the need for selecting indices in close relation with the context, the available data and the aims of each study. Such a strategy is an essential preliminary step for preventing misunderstanding and artefactual controversies. Along these lines, we propose some guidelines to help users in selecting the most appropriate indices according both to the facet of functional richness on which they wish to focus and to the characteristics of the available data.
|
|
Mouillot, D., Graham, N. A. J., Villeger, S., Mason, N. W. H., & Bellwood, D. R. (2013). A functional approach reveals community responses to disturbances. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 28(3), 167–177.
Résumé: Understanding the processes shaping biological communities under multiple disturbances is a core challenge in ecology and conservation science. Traditionally, ecologists have explored linkages between the severity and type of disturbance and the taxonomic structure of communities. Recent advances in the application of species traits, to assess the functional structure of communities, have provided an alternative approach that responds rapidly and consistently across taxa and ecosystems to multiple disturbances. Importantly, trait-based metrics may provide advanced warning of disturbance to ecosystems because they do not need species loss to be reactive. Here, we synthesize empirical evidence and present a theoretical framework, based on species positions in a functional space, as a tool to reveal the complex nature of change in disturbed ecosystems.
|