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Understanding and quantifying ES flows is essential for the sustainable management of social-ecological systems, as it directly captures the human-nature interactions within the system and not solely its individual elements. Especially in degrading marine systems, most ES assessments focus solely on either biophysical or socio-economic elements of these social-ecological systems, failing to directly capture the human-nature interactions. This systematic literature review aims to capture the state of the art of ES flow studies to improve the knowledge base on marine ES flows while highlighting knowledge gaps and discussing future research pathways. Within the review we extract information on: i) the ES flow definitions, classification systems, and indicators; ii) the scales of assessment and methods used to assess marine ES flows; and iii) the types of assessment outputs. 82% of the reviewed ES flow assessment methods were spatially explicit. 63% of the studies assess marine ES flows locally. Across-scale ES flows are rarely taken into account. We detect a broad range of conceptualizations within marine ES flow literature. We thus propose an updated definition for ES flows in which they are defined as a spectrum within the social-ecological system, within which different ES flow indicators are placed depending on the relative contributions of biophysical or socio-economic attributes. Based on the extracted information and detected literature gaps, we propose a set of four criteria that should be the minimum required information when referring to ES flows: i) the relative contributions of biophysical and socio-economic attributes present in ES flow indicators; ii) identification of the supplying and receiving systems; iii) the direction and branches of flows; and iv) the spatial and temporal scales across which ES flows occur.

Invited lecture. Online live Session 2 Summary: trophic levels: a measure of functional diversity stable isotope tools: bulk vs. compound-specific analyses the basis: differential isotopic fractionation trophic indicators: trophic position, baselines, and much more application examples progress: multitrophic models, fingerprinting MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

Time and energy are finite resources in any environment, and how and when organisms use their available resources to survive and reproduce is the crux of life history theory (Gadgil and Bossert 1970; Balon 1975; Stearns 1976). The different survival strategies used by animals are often shaped by their environment in addition to their biology (Winemiller and Rose 1992), which allows for exploration into biological variability when environmental factors are known. For this reason, the Line Islands in the Central Pacific provide an ideal location to perform observational studies due to their unique productivity gradient and fish assemblage structures across the island chain (Sandin et al. 2008; DeMartini et al. 2008; Fox et al. 2018; Zgliczynski et al. 2019). Many of the world’s coral reefs are in remote regions that lack monitoring programs or even local populations, so conducting ecological surveys on fish communities in these regions can require extensive amounts of time, energy, resources and people. The inherent variability an environment exerts on the many factors that contribute to growth over a lifetime make it difficult to generate a directly proportional formula that calculates age. A novel age estimation method was developed that utilizes in-situ visual census data to estimate the age of fishes, and as a case study, several fish were chosen as representative species to explore its capabilities. Through this process, new ecological information and insight can be gained about the age structures of fish populations both between and throughout the Line Islands.

Microplastics (MPs) are accessible for organisms with active filter feeding strategies, as are many marine molluscs, which live attached or semi-buried in sediments. In the present study, MPs (from 0.02 to 5 mm) concentration, morphology, and composition were determined in consumed mollusc species of the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean Sea). Microplastic concentrations, morphologic characteristics and composition were studied according to species, catchment zones and depuration condition. Finally, human intake of MPs through molluscs' consumption was determined. >2300 individuals were analysed, being 1460 MPs extracted and their size, and polymeric composition registered. Big oysters and mussels showed the highest MPs concentration by individual, with levels of 22.8 ± 14.4 and 18.6 ± 23.0 MPs/individual, respectively. Mean annual MPs (≥20 μm) consumption for adult population was estimated in 8103 MPs/year, with a 95th percentile of 19,418 MPs/year. It suggests that the consumption of molluscs is an important route of MPs exposure for the Catalan population.

Understanding fish diversity patterns is critical for fisheries management amidst overfishing and climate change. Fish egg surveys have been used to characterize pelagic spawning fish communities, estimate biomass, and track population trends in response to perturbations. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has been implemented to rapidly and non-invasively survey marine ecosystems. To understand the efficacy of eDNA metabarcoding for assessing pelagic spawning fish community composition, concurrent eDNA metabarcoding and fish egg DNA barcoding off Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Pier (La Jolla, CA) were conducted. Both methods revealed seasonal patterns in agreement with previous fish and fish egg surveys. Species richness was highest in late spring and summer. The presence and spawning of commercially important species and species of conservation concern were detected. Both methods showed overlap for pelagic spawning fishes for broadcast spawners, schooling fish, and locally abundant species. Some actively spawning species were not co-detected with eDNA, likely due to different sampling strategies, taxonomic biases, and abiotic/biotic factors influencing eDNA transport, shedding, and degradation. We identified key advantages and disadvantages of each method. Fish egg barcoding provided information on spawning trends but did not detect taxa with alternate reproduction strategies. Metabarcoding eDNA detected species not found in fish egg sampling, including demersal and viviparous bony fishes, non-spawning adults, Chondrichthyan, and Mammalian species, but missed abundant pelagic fish eggs. This study demonstrates that DNA barcoding of fish eggs and eDNA metabarcoding work best in tandem as each method identified unique fish taxa and provided complementary ecological and biological insight.

The western North Atlantic is a dynamic region characterized by the Gulf Stream western boundary current and inhabited by a diverse host of odontocete, or toothed whale, top predators. Their habitats are highly exploited by commercial fisheries, shipping, marine energy extraction, and naval exercises, subjecting them to a variety of potentially harmful interactions. Many of these species remain poorly understood due to the difficulties of observing them in the pelagic environment. Their habitat utilization and the impacts of anthropogenic activities are not well known. Over the past decade, passive acoustic data has become increasingly utilized for the study of a wide variety of marine animals, and offers several advantages over traditional line-transect visual survey methods. Passive acoustic devices can be deployed at offshore monitoring sites for long periods of time, enabling detection of even rare and cryptic species across seasons and sea states, and without altering animal behaviors. Here we utilized a large passive acoustic data set collected across a latitudinal habitat gradient in the western North Atlantic to address fundamental knowledge gaps in odontocete ecology. I approached the problem of discriminating between species based on spectral and temporal features of echolocation clicks by using machine learning to identify novel click types, and then matching these click types to species using spatiotemporal correlates. I was able to identify novel click types associated with short-beaked common dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, and short-finned pilot whales in this way. Next I characterized temporal patterns in presence and activity for ten different species across our monitoring sites at three different temporal scales: seasonal, lunar, and diel. I observed spatiotemporal separation of apparent competitors, and complex behavioral patterns modulated by interactions between the seasonal, lunar, and diel cycles. Finally I investigated the relationships between species presence and oceanographic covariates to predict habitat suitability across the region, and explored niche partitioning between potentially competitive species. The insights gained here significantly advance our understanding of toothed whale ecology in this region, and can be used for more effective population assessments and management in the face of anthropogenic threats and climate change.