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The Sahara desert is a major global source of dust that is mostly transported southwest over the ocean off West Africa. The presence of this dust impacts the remote sensing of ocean surface properties. These aerosols have absorbing properties that are poorly accounted for in the standard ocean color data processing algorithm. This can result in an overestimation of the atmospheric contribution to the ocean color signal and consequently an underestimation of the oceanic contribution. A two-step algorithm initially applied to the Sea-viewing Wide field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) data was adapted to the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS-Aqua) sensor in the Northwest African region. The Northwest African region is a very productive region, where pelagic resources are an important socio-economic sector. Improving atmospheric correction of ocean color products is, thus, of particular interest for this oceanic region. The two-step approach of classifying the top-of-atmosphere radiance spectra for a better estimate of aerosol type on the one hand, and using an optimization method to fit the parameters of these aerosols and chlorophyll-a concentration (Chla) on the other hand, allows for a better representation of the optical thickness, a correction of the marine reflectance spectrum, and an increase in the spatio-temporal coverage of the area. To the extent that the properties of the water color signal are improved by this data processing, the Chla estimates should also be improved by this approach. However, it is difficult to conclude on this point from the available in situ observations. International audience WOS:001038809300001

The giant clam Tridacna maxima has been largely overexploited in many tropical regions over the past decades, and was therefore listed in appendix II of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 1985. In French Polynesia, several atolls and islands harbor the world's highest stocks of giant clams in very shallow and accessible areas, which are therefore highly vulnerable to fishing pressure. The local fishery authority (i.e., Direction des Resources Marines or "DRM") implemented several management schemes in 2002 to control and regulate fishing pressure. However, for further decisions DRM was missing a sensitivity analysis on the effectiveness of the possible management actions. Here, we report on the use of a deterministic Viable Population Analysis (VPA) and spatially-explicit age-based population model that simulated the 30-year trajectory of a Tridacna maxima stock under different management approaches. Specifically, given various scenarios of intra-island larval dispersal, we tested which of No-take-Areas (NTAs), rotational closures, size limits, quotas, and restocking schemes would lead to the highest future stocks in Tubuai and Raivavae, two exploited islands of the Austral archipelago. For both islands, stock abundances were estimated in 2004/2010 and 2005/2010 respectively, and natural mortalities were assessed previously only in Tubuai. When compared to field data, the model successfully predicted the 2010 stocks for Tubuai, but proved to be less reliable for Raivavae, where natural mortality rates may well be different from those on Tubuai. For Tubuai, the spatial model suggested that reducing fishing effort (through fixed quotas) and banning fishing below the 12 cm size limit (as currently implemented) were the most effective management actions to sustain T. maxima populations into the future. Implementing NTAs was of poor effectiveness. NTAs increased giant clam stock inside the protected area, but also increased overfishing in the neighboring areas, and were ineffective overall.

Small-scale spatial and temporal variability in animal abundance is an intrinsic characteristic of marine ecosystems but remains largely unknown for most animals, including coral reef fishes. In this study, we used a remote autonomous unbaited video system and recorded reef fish assemblages during daylight hours, 10 times a day for 34 consecutive days in a branching coral patch of the lagoon of New Caledonia. In total, 50 031 fish observations belonging to 114 taxa, 66 genera and 31 families were recorded in 256 recorded videos. Carnivores and herbivore-detritus feeders dominated the trophic structure. We found significant variations in the composition of fish assemblages between times of day. Taxa richness and fish abundance were greater in the early morning and in the late afternoon than during the day. Fourteen taxa displayed well-defined temporal patterns in abundance with one taxon influenced by time of day, six influenced by tidal state and seven influenced by both time of day and tidal state. None of these 14 taxa were piscivores, 10 were herbivore-detritus feeders, three were carnivores and one was plankton feeder. Our results suggest a diel migration from feeding grounds to shelter areas and highlight the importance of taking into account small-scale temporal variability in animal diversity and abundance when studying connectivity between habitats and monitoring communities.

The diatom and pollen assemblages of the upper 4.5 m of a core recovered from the bank of the Senegal River upstream of St Louis (16.03 N, 16.48 W) reveal an exceptional diversity (39 diatom taxa from which 5 mentioned for the first time in Senegambia and 147 pollen taxa), allowing reconstruction of the environmental history of the northern Sahel over the last millennium. Our study confirms that the Little Ice Age was a period of increased dryness. This resulted in the disappearance of tropical trees that were developed in gallery forests during the Holocene humid period. However, freshwater inputs from the Senegal River remained constant during the whole millennium while being strongly impacted by sea level variations: An episode of sea level rise, already recorded in the Ferlo River valley, led to a supply of salt waters up to 1250 CE. It was only after 1720 CE that a dramatic event occurred with the massive development of marine to brackish diatoms at the expense of freshwater forms as a result of the weakening of the Senegal River inputs. Increased dry conditions during the second half of the 18th and the 19th centuries culminating 1826 CE led to the salinization of the core site with the development of Avicennia populations and halophilic plant species from the rear mangrove. International audience

An analysis of when children develop a sense of fairness (receiving less or more than a peer) is compared across seven different societies; aversion to receiving less emerges early in childhood in all societies, whereas aversion to receiving more emerges later in childhood and only in three of the seven societies studied. Previous research has shown that children develop a sense of fairness during childhood, but it is not known how the two components of this — aversion to being unfairly treated and aversion to seeing others unfairly treated — vary across cultures. These authors conducted experiments in seven cultures and find that aversion to being unfairly treated emerges early in childhood and consistently across cultures. Aversion to seeing others unfairly treated emerges later in childhood and is only seen in the experiment in three of the seven cultures studied. A sense of fairness plays a critical role in supporting human cooperation1,2,3. Adult norms of fair resource sharing vary widely across societies, suggesting that culture shapes the acquisition of fairness behaviour during childhood4,5. Here we examine how fairness behaviour develops in children from seven diverse societies, testing children from 4 to 15 years of age (n = 866 pairs) in a standardized resource decision task6,7. We measured two key aspects of fairness decisions: disadvantageous inequity aversion (peer receives more than self) and advantageous inequity aversion (self receives more than a peer). We show that disadvantageous inequity aversion emerged across all populations by middle childhood. By contrast, advantageous inequity aversion was more variable, emerging in three populations and only later in development. We discuss these findings in relation to questions about the universality and cultural specificity of human fairness.

The currents flowing across the rim of the atoll of Raroia were investigated with a 1 year-long dataset of wave, water level and currents. Offshore waves break on the edge of the reef outside the atoll's rim and drive current into the lagoon, through the shallow hoa that cut across the rim. The additional water volume generated by this wave driven flow induces an elevation of water level throughout the atoll's lagoon and is evacuated back into the open ocean through a deep reef pass. The water level inside the atoll is also driven by astronomical tides, which enter the lagoon thought the reef pass, after undergoing a ~50% decrease in amplitude and a ~4 hour lag. Using a simple parametric model with three calibrated coefficients, we show that currents across the atoll's rim can be estimated as a function of the offshore wave conditions and the water level difference between the ocean and the lagoon.

Background: Urogenital schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. In the Senegal river basin, the construction of the Diama dam led to an increase and endemicity of schistosomiasis. Since 2009, praziquantel has frequently been used as preventive chemotherapy in the form of mass administration to Senegalese school-aged children without monitoring of the treatment efficacy and the prevalence after re-infection. This study aims to determine the current prevalence of urogenital schistosomiasis (caused by Schistosoma haematobium), the efficacy of praziquantel, and the re-infection rates in children from five villages with different water access. Methods: The baseline prevalence of S. haematobium was determined in August 2020 in 777 children between 5 and 11 years old and a single dose of praziquantel (40 mg/kg) was administered to those positive. The efficacy of praziquantel and the re-infection rates were monitored 4 weeks and 7 months after treatment, respectively, in 226 children with a high intensity of infection at baseline. Results: At the baseline, prevalence was low among children from the village of Mbane who live close to the Lac de Guiers (38%), moderate among those from the villages of Dioundou and Khodit, which neighbor the Doue river (46%), and very high at Khodit (90.6%) and Guia (91.2%) which mainly use an irrigation canal. After treatment, the observed cure rates confirmed the efficacy of praziquantel. The lowest cure rate (88.5%) was obtained in the village using the irrigation canal, while high cure rates were obtained in those using the lake (96.5%) and the river (98%). However, high egg reduction rates (between 96.7 and 99.7%) were obtained in all the villages. The re-infection was significantly higher in the village using the canal (42.5%) than in the villages accessing the Lac de Guiers (18.3%) and the Doue river (14.8%). Conclusion: Praziquantel has an impact on reducing the prevalence and intensity of urogenital schistosomiasis. However, in the Senegal river basin, S. haematobium remains a real health problem for children living in the villages near the irrigation canals, despite regular treatment, while prevalence is declining from those frequenting the river and the Lac de Guiers. International audience