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[Supplementary material]: Nature of problem: Find optimal atomistic structures retaining full flexibility in the choice of the optimization target, the methodological approach and its implementation (e.g. CPU- vs. GPU-heavy calculations). Enable interfacing with relevant software, including but not limited to density-functional-theory (DFT) codes and machine-learning (ML) solutions. [Solution method]: The covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES) algorithm is implemented using Cholesky decompositions for efficiency. The core algorithm and application examples for specific problems are implemented in functional-style Python free of side effects, with data classes to keep track of the state of the evolution. Dask is used for job control to enable highly distributed workflows. Advanced strategies like BI-Population CMA-ES are easy to implement and illustrated in the examples. Clinamen2 is a versatile functional-style Python implementation of the covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES) utilizing Cholesky decomposition. On top of a problem-agnostic core algorithm, the software package offers a suite of utilities and library code enabling applications to important atomistic structure searches. Features include massively distributed computation and the BI-Population restart scheme. This article details the general code structure and introduces examples that illustrate some relevant applications for the materials science and chemistry worlds, including interfacing to density-functional-theory codes and machine-learned surrogate models. The functional design renders the code modular and adaptable, and makes the creation of interfaces to other atomistic software straightforward. [Program summary]: Program Title: Clinamen2 CPC Library link to program files: https://doi.org/10.17632/x7syr2txsd.1 Developer's repository link: https://github.com/Madsen-s-research-group/clinamen2-public-releases Code Ocean capsule: https://codeocean.com/capsule/4950229 Licensing provisions: Apache-2.0 Programming language: Python This work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (SFB F81 TACO). Peer reviewed

Graphene-based conductive inks offer attractive possibilities in many printing technology applications. Often, these inks contain a mixture of compounds, such as solvents and stabilizers. For the safe(r) and sustainable use of such materials in products, potentially hazardous components must be identified and considered in the design stage. In this study, the hazards of few-layer graphene (FLG)-based ink formulations were tested in fish using in vitro (RTL-W1 cell line) and in vivo aquatic ecotoxicity tests (OECD TG 203). Five ink formulations were produced using different processing steps, containing varying amounts of solvents and stabilizers, with the end products formulated either in aqueous solutions or in powder form. The FLG ink formulations with the highest contents of the stabilizer sodium deoxycholate showed greater in vitro cytotoxic effects, but they did not provoke mortality in juvenile rainbow trout. However, exposure led to increased activities of the cytochrome P450 1a (Cyp1a) and Cyp3a enzymes in the liver, which play an essential role in the detoxification of xenobiotics, suggesting that any effects will be enhanced by the presence of the stabilizers. These results highlight the importance of an SSbD approach together with the use of appropriate testing tools and strategies. By incorporating additional processing steps to remove identified cytotoxic residual solvents and stabilizers, the hazard profile of the FLG inks improved, demonstrating that, by following the principles of the European Commission’s safe(r) and sustainable by design (SSbD) framework, one can contribute to the safe(r) and sustainable use of functional and advanced 2D materials in products.

The zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha is one of the most successful, notorious, and detrimental aquatic invasive non-native species worldwide, having invaded Europe and North America while causing substantial ecological and socio-economic impacts. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal trends in this species' invasion success using 178 macroinvertebrate abundance time series, containing 1451 records of D. polymorpha collected across nine European countries between 1972–2019. Using these raw (absolute) abundance data, we examined trends and drivers of occurrences and relative abundances of D. polymorpha within invaded communities. Meta-regression models revealed non-significant trends both at the European level and for the majority of the invaded countries, except for France (significant decreasing trend) and Hungary (marginally positive trend). At the European level, the number of D. polymorpha occurrences over time followed a flat-top bell-shaped distribution, with a steep increase between 1973–1989 followed by a plateau phase prior to significantly declining post-1998. Using a series of climatic and hydromorphological site-specific characteristics of invaded and uninvaded sites from two periods (1998–2002; 2011–2015), we found that native richness, non-native abundance, distance to the next barrier, and elevation were associated with the occurrence of D. polymorpha. We also found that higher native richness and lower latitude were related to lower relative abundances. Using Cohen's D as a measure of D. polymorpha impact, we found that biodiversity within the invaded sites was initially higher than in uninvaded ones, but then declined, suggesting differences in biodiversity trends across invaded and uninvaded sites. While our results emphasise the high invasion success of D. polymorpha, increasing stressors within the context of global change – particularly ongoing climate change – are likely to enhance invasion rates and the impact of D. polymorpha in the near future, exacerbated by the lack of timely and effective management actions. – PJH received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 project eLTER PLUS (Grand agreement no. 871128). RNC is funded by the Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2021-001). This study was supported by the Grant Agency of the University of South Bohemia, project no. 065/2022/Z. MC was supported by a Ramón y Cajal contract funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC2020-029829-I). Peer reviewed

Microbial interactions are vital in maintaining ocean ecosystem function, yet their dynamic nature and complexity remain largely unexplored. Here, we use association networks to investigate possible ecological interactions in the marine microbiome among archaea, bacteria, and picoeukaryotes throughout different depths and geographical regions of the tropical and subtropical global ocean. Our findings reveal that potential microbial interactions change with depth and geographical scale, exhibiting highly heterogeneous distributions. A few potential interactions were global, meaning they occurred across regions at the same depth, while 11-36% were regional within specific depths. The bathypelagic zone had the lowest proportion of global associations, and regional associations increased with depth. Moreover, we observed that most surface water associations do not persist in deeper ocean layers despite microbial vertical dispersal. Our work contributes to a deeper understanding of the tropical and subtropical global ocean interactome, which is essential for addressing the challenges posed by global change Sampling was carried out thanks to the Consolider-Ingenio program (project Malaspina 2010 Expedition, ref. CSD2008–00077, to C.M.D.) and HOTMIX project (CTM2011-30010/MAR, to J.A.), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Science and Innovation. [...] I.M.D., R.L., and R.M. received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 675752 (SINGEK, http://www.singek.eu). R.L. was supported by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2013-12554, MINECO, Spain). This work was also supported by the projects INTERACTOMICS (CTM2015-69936-P, MINECO, Spain), MicroEcoSystems (240904, RCN, Norway), and MINIME (PID2019-105775RB-I00, AEI, Spain) to R.L. S.C. was supported by the CNRS MITI through the interdisciplinary program Modélisation du Vivant (GOBITMAP grant). S.C., D.E., and S.G.A. were funded by the H2020 project AtlantECO (award number 862923). We acknowledge funding of the Spanish government through the “Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” accreditation to the ICM-CSIC (CEX2019-000928-S) 17 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, supplementary information https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44550-y.-- Data availability: DNA sequence data is publicly available at the European Nucleotide Archive (see details in Table 2). The accession numbers for the different datasets are: MalaSurf (PRJEB23913, PRJEB25224), MalaVP (PRJEB23771, PRJEB45015), MalaDeep (PRJEB45011, PRJEB45014), Hotmix (PRJEB44683, PRJEB44474). OTU tables and source data to generate the figures and tables are provided in GitHub (https://github.com/InaMariaDeutschmann/GlobalNetworkMalaspinaHotmix) and Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1023007337. The following databases have been used: SILVA v13289, PR2 v4.11.190, and the World Ocean Database 201391.-- Code availability: The code for data analysis, including commands to run FlashWeave and EnDED (environmentally-driven-edge-detection and computing Jaccard index), is publicly available at GitHub (https://github.com/InaMariaDeutschmann/GlobalNetworkMalaspinaHotmix) and Zenodo37 Peer reviewed

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.Match codend L50 to Minimum Landing Size (MLS) can be seen as a straightforward solution to reduce juveniles catches of a given species, but this strategy could lead to catch losses of other targets with lower MLS. Herein we address a Spanish case study related to this issue. Hake (Merluccius merluccius [L. 1758], hereafter HKE) is a valuable target species for the Bottom otter-trawl mixed fishery (hereafter OTB-mix) fishery operating in Galician waters (V IIIc-IXa ). Large quantities of individuals below MLS (27cm) are still caught and subsequently discarded in the fishery, suggesting that efforts should be made to improve selectivity on this species. However, the Introduction of HKE-based size selection improvements to commercial gears may conflict with fishing interest on other target species with lower MLS, such as Blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou [Risso, 1826], hereafter WHB). This mismatch could be solved by introducing species selection devices, which split species within the trawl and drive the fractions to specific size selection panels. Nevertheless this approach success depends on an effective use (if exists) of differences in swimming-scape behaviour between species. Given this scenario, we propose a flow of questions intended to assess if WHB exploitation patterns in OTB-mix could play a key role in the success of potential HKE-based size selection improvements.

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.By-catch of cold-water corals from a Trawl Experimental Survey developed during 2004 in three NAFO Seamounts was examined (Corner Rise and New England Seamount Complex). Three hauls were carried out over two peaks located in New England Seamount Complex (Divs. 6EF). In this area, catches of commercial resources were negligible and by-catch of corals was recorded (degraded pieces of dead Enallopsammia sp and Keratoisis sp and few live corals like Solenosmilia variabilis, Metallogorgia melanotrichos, Paragorgia johnsoni, etc.), showing some interaction between fishing and vulnerable habitats and that trawl fishing in the area is unfeasible. Ninety-two hauls were carried out over one peak located in Corner Rise Seamount Complex (Div. 6G), with big catches of alfonsino (Beryx splendens), but only six hauls showing coral records (Enallopsamia rostrata, Solenosmilia variabilis, Madrepora oculata, Acanella eburnea and Placogorgia terceira) and in less quantities in comparison with Divs. 6EF. The low by-catch of corals in the Div. 6G peak could be related with their less rough bottom feature and with the previous alteration of sessile epifauna due to intense fishing activity developed during the last decades of XX Century. The results of the Experimental Survey indicate that the impact of trawling on seamounts could be important and that the closed area agreed in 2007 to protect the bottom habitats of the seamounts within NAFO Regulatory Area (Divs. 6EFG) should be maintained and improved

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is the European Initiative for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation. Through the ASIMUTH project, scientists and industry from 5 countries along Europe’s Atlantic Margin will form a network to produce the first realistic HAB advisory and forecasting capability as a GMES downstream service to the European aquaculture industry. The early warning of severe blooms will allow fish and shellfish farmers to adapt their culture and harvesting practices in time, in order to reduce potential losses.

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.The protection of the environment is a key element of the European Union’s sustainable development, and therefore is a priority for community co‐financing. LIFE is the European Commission’s financial instrument exclusively dedicated to supporting environmental and nature conservation projects. Spain is one of the richest European countries in marine biodiversity. It has 8000 km of coastline with 23 million inhabitants, which is 58% of the Spanish population. Protection of our seas is mandatory. Almost a quarter of the Spanish territory is included in the Natura 2000 Network. However, in the marine environment, the Natura 2000 Network is at a very early stage because the offshore area is less than 0.5% of Spanish territorial waters. Within this frame the LIFE project: ʺInventory and designation of marine Natura 2000 areas in the Spanish sea (INDEMARES)” was born, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation and including relevant institutions in research, management, and conservation of the marine environment. Its main objective is to contribute to the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Spanish seas through the identification of ten valuable areas for the Natura 2000 Network. One of these areas is in the Gulf of Cadiz, based on the discovery of submarine chimneys and pavements related to leaking gases. The INDEMARES CHICA project discusses the role of these submarine structures in terms of habitats. The new ROV LIROPUS 2000 will play a fundamental role in obtaining the necessary information for completing the requirements from the OSPAR Commission directives and the European Council Habitats Directive.