• 2015-2024close
• Open Access close
• Restricted close
• Open Source close
• Embargo close
• Publications close
• Research data close
• Other research products close
• IL close
• CY close
• English close
• European Marine Science close

The information provided here represents the EBV workflow templates collected during the EuropaBON online workshop on Essential Biodiversity Variable (EBV) workflows from 22–24 February 2023. The templates were designed to capture comprehensive descriptions about the three workflow components (data collection and sampling, data integration, and modelling) that are typical for generating EBVs. Recognising the potential value of those EBV templates for European biodiversity monitoring, our objective is to share them for enhancing transparency, knowledge exchange and collaboration, and promoting the operationalisation of EBVs across Europe. EuropaBON (https://europabon.org/) is a Horizon 2020 research and innovation action funded by the European Commission that seeks to co-design a European Biodiversity Observation Network. This network aims to bridge the gap between the biodiversity data needs of policy-makers and authorities on the one hand and the existing reporting streams and available data sources on the other hand, considering both present obligations and forthcoming policy needs. Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) are a central concept of EuropaBON as they provide a standardised framework for biodiversity monitoring and reporting. In 2023, EuropaBON had identified 70 EBVs (Junker et al., 2023) that are policy-relevant for the EU, and measurable with available and existing technologies and with a proven track record of feasibility in ongoing initiatives. EBVs require workflows to process the raw data (primary observations) through data integration and modelling into spatially-explicit EBV data products (Kissling et al., 2018; Schmeller et al., 2017). These workflows can be broken down into three main components (data collection and sampling, data integration, and modelling), with additional aspects of data interoperability and IT infrastructure being recognised as crucial for transnational data streams (Kissling & Lumbierres, 2023). To capture information about the EBV workflows, an online workshop was held on 22–24 February 2023 with 520 registered participants from 49 countries, covering a large range of expertise (Lumbierres & Kissling, 2023). Participants contributed information on EBV workflow components and advanced monitoring techniques, discussed initiatives, and identified tools and requirements for implementing 70 proposed EBVs. The information from the workshop participants was collected through pre-defined EBV workflow templates (provided as Google Docs). Templates were organised into rows representing the workflow components (‘Data collection and sampling’, ‘Data integration’, and ‘Modelling’) and columns reflecting the levels of maturity ('Current initiatives', 'Emerging tools and projects' or 'Future needs'). Prior to the workshop, some information on existing workflows was pre-filled based on previous EuropaBON deliverables, namely an assessment of the current biodiversity monitoring gaps in the EU (Santana et al., 2023) and an assessment of current EU monitoring workflows and bottlenecks (Morán-Ordóñez et al., 2023). After the workshop, the EBV workflow templates were processed to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the information. Each listed initiative was verified to be part of an active biodiversity monitoring scheme and pertinent to the specific EBV under consideration, cross-referencing with the initiative’s websites and other data collected by the EuropaBON deliverables (Morán-Ordóñez et al., 2023; Santana et al., 2023). Moreover, we ensured correct alignment of each initiative and listed requirements and needs with the appropriate workflow components and maturity levels. The EBV workflow templates provide insights into the current biodiversity monitoring landscape in Europe and how EBV production could be operationalized at the EU level. They offer detailed information about ongoing initiatives and projects, methodologies, and technologies that can be used to generate EBVs at a continental scale. Nevertheless, it is important to note that they do not encompass an exhaustive list of all ongoing or proposed initiatives of biodiversity monitoring in all member states of the EU. It is suggested to use them as a starting point and baseline for the further development of EBVs in a European context.

This is the 20th Annual Report, of what started out as the National Collections of Natural History and has evolved into the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies. During this year we continued to work hard to develop the museum with all its sections and capacities. The most pivotal event of this year was Tel Aviv University’s decision to grant academic status to the museum. To date, our Curators all belonged to other Faculties—Humanities, Life Sciences, and Medicine—but as the museum evolved to fulfill its designated role of Israel’s National Museum of Natural History, its scientific development became increasingly crucial. The importance of this step cannot be overemphasized. In this academic year, we hired our first joint faculty member with the Faculty of Social Sciences and three Curators on Tel Aviv University’s academic researcher track, and set out for a search for two joint appointments with the School of Zoology. This is the first of a five-year scientific development plan that will set the museum on track to become a proper national research infrastructure.During this year, we established the Steinhardt Museum’s Marine Biodiversity Center, to leverage the museum’s unique assets in this field—world class museum collections, an excellent team of marine biologists, many of whom are taxonomists, and the museum’s abilities in communicating science to the public using diverse tools.We also established a precursor for the Israel Center for Citizen Science to promote the development of this field in Israel, as a link between science and society. Citizen science involves engaging the public in scientific exploration, thus empowering it and contributing to scientific education, and concurrently to the production of big biodiversity data for research and monitoring. This year museum visitation and educational activities were still partly under restrictions related to the Covid pandemic, but a temporary exhibition on the climate crisis drew many visitors, and things were looking up compared with the previous year. We hope that the next year heralds even better news.

Accompanying text to Revisiting ordered dolomite formation: bridging computational insights with rock-hard geological realities, a reply to Kim et al., 2023 (J. Kim, Y. Kimura, B. Puchala, T. Yamazaki, U. Becker, W. Sun, Dissolution enables dolomite crystal growth near ambient conditions. Science 382, 915–920 (2023)). 

The staff members of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History (SMNH) continued curation and pro­motion of the SMNH collections. Routine curatorial activities continued to be adversely affected to some extent by the Covid-19 pandemic during the 2020—2021 academic year. Nevertheless, much effort was dedicated to curation of the collections and to compliance with best curatorial practices. The staff continued to collect and preserve new scientific material, rescue and incorporate im­por­tant private and institutional collections, main­tain the existing holdings, send scientific ma­terial and data nationwide and abroad, and as­sist gra­duate students, academic courses and edu­cational activities. During the 2020—2021 academic year, the Museum staff added over 19,000 new specimens of various ta­xo­no­mic groups through collecting by the Museum's curators and researchers, students and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, or through donation from private collectors. Almost 30,000 new records were added to the Museum database.

To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia).

Background: Over the last decade, several coral genomes have been sequenced allowing a better understanding of these symbiotic organisms threatened by climate change. Scleractinian corals are reef builders and are central to coral reef ecosystems, providing habitat to a great diversity of species. Results: In the frame of the Tara Pacific expedition, we assemble two coral genomes, Porites lobata and Pocillopora cf. effusa, with vastly improved contiguity that allows us to study the functional organization of these genomes. We annotate their gene catalog and report a relatively higher gene number than that found in other public coral genome sequences, 43,000 and 32,000 genes, respectively. This finding is explained by a high number of tandemly duplicated genes, accounting for almost a third of the predicted genes. We show that these duplicated genes originate from multiple and distinct duplication events throughout the coral lineage. They contribute to the amplification of gene families, mostly related to the immune system and disease resistance, which we suggest to be functionally linked to coral host resilience. Conclusions: At large, we show the importance of duplicated genes to inform the biology of reef-building corals and provide novel avenues to understand and screen for differences in stress resilience. Genome Biology, 24 (1) ISSN:1474-760X

Background Over the last decade, several coral genomes have been sequenced allowing a better understanding of these symbiotic organisms threatened by climate change. Scleractinian corals are reef builders and are central to coral reef ecosystems, providing habitat to a great diversity of species. Results In the frame of the Tara Pacific expedition, we assemble two coral genomes, Porites lobata and Pocillopora cf. effusa, with vastly improved contiguity that allows us to study the functional organization of these genomes. We annotate their gene catalog and report a relatively higher gene number than that found in other public coral genome sequences, 43,000 and 32,000 genes, respectively. This finding is explained by a high number of tandemly duplicated genes, accounting for almost a third of the predicted genes. We show that these duplicated genes originate from multiple and distinct duplication events throughout the coral lineage. They contribute to the amplification of gene families, mostly related to the immune system and disease resistance, which we suggest to be functionally linked to coral host resilience. Conclusions At large, we show the importance of duplicated genes to inform the biology of reef-building corals and provide novel avenues to understand and screen for differences in stress resilience. published

Depth sections of two short sediment cores were analyzed in the Radioactivity measurements Laboratory at the University of Bremen by gamma spectrometry to determine the activities of natural and artificial gamma emitting radionuclides. The core chronology was based on a combination of two radiotracers, 210Pb and 137Cs, due to their suitable half-lives 22.2 and 30 years. A robust time-frame will enable to track the rapid changes in the sedimentation pattern of the Nile River along a S-N gradient observed in the cores GC and BC as a part of the project Rapid changes along the Israeli Mediterranean coast following the damming of the Nile and their influence on the Israeli inner shelf. In order to understand causes of recent sharp changes in sedimentation pattern on the inner Israeli shelf, dating of cores collected in the region is important.

The positive effect of fully protected Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) on marine biodiversity, specifically on fishes, has been widely documented. In contrast, the potential of MPAs to mitigate the impact of adverse climatic conditions has seldom been investigated. Here, we assessed the effectiveness of MPAs, quantified as increasing fish biomass, across wide geographic and environmental gradients across the Mediterranean Sea. We performed underwater visual surveys within and outside MPAs to characterize fish assemblages in 52 rocky reef sites across an extent of over 3,300 km. We used the steep spatial temperature gradient across the Mediterranean as a ‘space-for-time’ substitution to infer climate-driven temporal changes. We found that, as expected, Mediterranean MPAs increased fish biomass. At the same time, higher seawater temperatures are associated with decreased fish biomass, changes in species composition, and shifts towards more thermophilic species. Importantly, we found that the rate of decrease in fish biomass with temperature was similar between protected and fished sites. Taken together, these results suggest that the capacity of MPAs to harbor higher fish biomass, compared to surrounding areas, is maintained across a broad temperature range. At the same time, MPAs will not be able to offset larger-scale biotic alterations associated with climate change. Policy implications: Our results suggest that sustained warming will likely reduce fish biomass in the Mediterranean Sea and shift community structure, requiring more conservative targets for fishery regulations. At the same time, protection from fishing will remain an important management tool even with future high-water temperatures, and MPAs are expected to continue to provide local-scale benefits to conservation and fisheries.