Recreational ports are known to be sources of pollution to the coastal marine environment due to the pouring of pollutants or the transfer of invasive species to neighboring areas. Nonetheless, the ...responsibility of protecting the marine environment does not lie solely on the users of the ports, but also affects the rest of citizens. Thus, an effective communication is necessary between scientists and citizens to avoid the lack of knowledge and boost cooperation against these environmental problems. In this study, (focused on the marina of Gijon, Northwestern Spain) citizens set education and social media as the main sources of information, rarely considering science outreach. Also, their environmental knowledge showed to be based on a visual perception, rather than on a cognitive one, as marine litter was considered a great environmental problem, while invasive species and biofouling went unnoticed, remarking the lack of an effective communication from scientific sources.
•Citizens from Gijon show low knowledge about Marine Biodiversity and Biosecurity.•Education and social media are considered the main information sources by citizens.•Science outreach lacks an effective communication with Gijon citizens.•Citizens perceive environmental problems visually rather than on a cognitive way.
Octopus vulgaris (Cuvier, 1797) is a cephalopod species with great economic value. In western Asturias (northwest of Spain), O. vulgaris artisanal fisheries are relatively well monitored and ...conditionally eco-labeled by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Despite this, the Asturian octopus stocks have not been genetically assessed so far. In order to improve the current fishery plan and contrast the octopus eco-label validity in Asturias, 539 individuals from five regions of the O. vulgaris geographic distribution, including temporal samplings in Asturias, were collected and genotyped at thirteen microsatellite loci. All the samples under analysis were in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Spatial levels of genetic differentiation were estimated using F-statistics, multidimensional scaling, and Bayesian analyses. Results suggested that the O. vulgaris consists of at least four genetically different stocks coming from two ancestral lineages. In addition, temporal analyses showed stability in terms of genetic variation and high N
(> 50) for several generations in different localities within Asturias, pointing out to indeed sustainable fishery exploitation levels. Even though, the current Asturias fishery plan shows no significant genetic damages to the stocks, the regional-specific management plans need systematic genetic monitoring schemes as part of an efficient and preventive regional fishery regulation strategy.
Ports are gateways for many marine organisms transported by ships worldwide, especially non-indigenous species (NIS). In this study carried out in North Iberian ports (Cantabrian Sea, Bay of Biscay) ...we have observed 38% of exotic macroinvertebrates. Four species, namely the barnacle Austrominius modestus, the tubeworm Ficopomatus enigmaticus, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and the pygmy mussel Xenostrobus securis, exhibited clear signs of invasiveness. A total of 671 barcode (cytochrome oxidase subunit I or 18S rRNA) genes were obtained and confirmed the species status of some cryptic NIS. Negative and significant correlation between diversity estimators of native biota and proportion of NIS suggests biotic resistance in ports. This could be applied to management of port biota for contributing to prevent the settlement of biopollutants in these areas which are very sensitive to biological invasions.
•Marine biological invasions often use ports as gateways.•Fouling macrobiota was sampled from eight ports within south Bay of Biscay.•DNA barcoding helped to identify phenotypically plastic species.•Negative correlation between native biodiversity and frequency of exotics was found.•Results suggest native biodiversity protects against invasions in ports.
Studies on the hydraulic behavior of GMZ bentonite have been performed since 1980s. Based on a review of the former studies, achievements on experimental and theoretic results obtained on the ...hydraulic aspects of compacted GMZ bentonite are presented in this paper. Results show that, for high suctions (>4MPa) the water retention capacity of compacted GMZ bentonite is almost independent of the constraint conditions; for low suctions (<4MPa) the confined samples resulted in significant low water retention. Temperature effects on water-retention depend on constraint conditions and suction. For unconfined samples, the water content decreases with temperature increase at high suctions, while it increases as temperature increases at low suctions. Under confined conditions, the water retention capacity is reduced by temperature rise. The hysteresis behavior is not obvious. Based on the test results, a revised water retention model was developed for considering the temperature effect. The saturated hydraulic conductivity of the densely compacted GMZ bentonite decreases as dry density and temperature increase. Models for prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivity have been developed and verified. With consideration of temperature influence on water viscosity and the effective flow cross-sectional area of porous channels, the model can satisfactorily reflect the temperature effects. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of confined densely compacted GMZ bentonite samples decreases first and then increases with suction decrease from an initial value of 80MPa to zero. The decrease can be attributed to the large pore clogging due to soft gel creation by exfoliation process. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of compacted GMZ bentonite under unconfined conditions is higher than that under confined conditions. Under confined conditions, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the highly compacted GMZ bentonite increases with temperature rise. The temperature effect becomes more significant at higher suctions (above 20MPa). This can be explained by changes of water viscosity and changes of effective cross-section areas of flow channels. With consideration of temperature effects and microstructure changes a revised model for prediction of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of compacted GMZ01 bentonite was proposed. Verification indicates that the proposed model can give good prediction of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of densely compacted GMZ01 bentonite under confined conditions in a suction range of 0–70MPa. But some deviation occurs in higher suctions (>70MPa).
•Hydraulic properties of GMZ bentonite have been investigated since 1980s.•SWRC of GMZ bentonite depends on constraint condition, suction, etc.•Permeability of GMZ bentonite influences saturation, temperature, etc.
The status of aquatic ecosystems has historically been monitored by the use of biotic indices. However, few biotic measures consider the presence of non-indigenous species as a sign of anthropogenic ...pollution and habitat disturbance even when this may seriously affect the metric scores and ecological status classifications of an environment. Today, biological invasions are currently one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and sustainable blue economies around the world. In this work, environmental assessments were conducted in the Port of Gijon, Northern Spain, using eDNA metabarcoding, and the gAMBI (genetics based AZTI Marine Biotic Index) was estimated. Results indicate a high/good ecological status within the port. However, nine non-indigenous species and five invasive species were found, and a modification of the gAMBI that includes species invasiveness was proposed: Blue-gNIS. The index was preliminary tested against existing validated indices such as gAMBI, BENTIX (based on the ecology of macroinvertebrates) and ALEX (based on the invasiveness of the species). Blue-gNIS classified the port in a good ecological status and showed its potential usefulness to achieve more complete water quality assessments of ports.
•eDNA Metabarcoding showed to be an effective tool for conducting environmental evaluations in ports and coastal waters.•The Blue-gNIS index is proposed, which considers exotic species to perform environmental assessments of marine ecosystems.•A preliminary calibration showed significant correlations among Blue-gNIS and other existing indices such as gAMBI or ALEX.•Fourteen exotic species were detected and the port of Gijon was classified in a good ecological status by the Blue-gNIS.
Sustainable Sea is a strategy game developed for educational purposes in which players assume the role of fishermen while learning concepts related to the sustainable management of fishing resources. ...Players earn points as they apply sustainable policies. The game was tested on high-school students and students pursuing bachelor's and master's degrees in Asturias (Spain). Pre- and post-tests were performed to evaluate the knowledge acquired from playing the game. The game was also evaluated as an educational tool using a satisfaction survey. A general increase in the understanding of fisheries sustainable management concepts was observed (significant in the bachelor's degree group), and the students exhibited a significant preference for this alternative teaching tool.
Summary
Background
PAI‐1 gain‐of‐function variants promote airway fibrosis and are associated with asthma and with worse lung function in subjects with asthma.
Objective
We sought to determine ...whether the association of a gain‐of‐function polymorphism in plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) with airway obstruction is modified by asthma status, and whether any genotype effect persists after accounting for common exposures that increase PAI‐1 level.
Methods
We studied 2070 Latino children (8‐21y) with genotypic and pulmonary function data from the GALA II cohort. We estimated the relationship of the PAI‐1 risk allele with FEV1/FVC by multivariate linear regression, stratified by asthma status. We examined the association of the polymorphism with asthma and airway obstruction within asthmatics via multivariate logistic regression. We replicated associations in the SAPPHIRE cohort of African Americans (n=1056). Secondary analysis included the effect of the at‐risk polymorphism on postbronchodilator lung function.
Results
There was an interaction between asthma status and the PAI‐1 polymorphism on FEV1/FVC (P=.03). The gain‐of‐function variants, genotypes (AA/AG), were associated with lower FEV1/FVC in subjects with asthma (β=−1.25, CI: −2.14,−0.35, P=.006), but not in controls. Subjects with asthma and the AA/AG genotypes had a 5% decrease in FEV1/FVC (P<.001). In asthmatics, the risk genotype (AA/AG) was associated with a 39% increase in risk of clinically relevant airway obstruction (OR=1.39, CI: 1.01, 1.92, P=.04). These associations persisted after exclusion of factors that increase PAI‐1 including tobacco exposure and obesity.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance
The decrease in the FEV1/FVC ratio associated with the risk genotype was modified by asthma status. The genotype increased the odds of airway obstruction by 75% within asthmatics only. As exposures known to increase PAI‐1 levels did not mitigate this association, PAI‐1 may contribute to airway obstruction in the context of chronic asthmatic airway inflammation.
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