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Abstract: This Collective Article compiles information on nineteen (19) species recorded in seven (7) Mediterranean countries (Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Syria, and Türkiye) and across four major sub-basins (Adriatic, Western, Central, and Eastern Mediterranean). The documented taxa represent eight (8) phyla: Annelida (four species), Arthropoda (three), Bryozoa (one), Chordata (two), Cnidaria (two), Mollusca (five), Chlorophyta (one), and Ochrophyta (one). Observations originated from both dedicated scientific surveys (including trawl sampling, van Veen grabs, and harbor-wall scraping) and citizen science initiatives by divers, shell collectors, and recreational fishers. Significant first records include Notomastus aberans (Slovenia), Paraprionospio coora (Italy), Polydora cornuta (Tyrrhenian Sea), Coleusia signata (Cyprus), Penaeus aztecus (Malta), Pleopis schmackeri (Syria), Pteragogus trispilus (Italy), Triacanthus biaculeatus (Türkiye), Oculina patagonica (Syria), and Watersipora subatra (Slovenia). In the Mollusca group, Conomurex persicus extends its known range westward to the Messina Strait (southern Italy), and Sepioteuthis lessoniana is recorded for the first time in Italian waters. Additional first reports for Türkiye include Alveinus miliaceus and Retusa desgenettii in the Turkish Levantine Sea. The species Uroteuthis (Photololigo) arabica represents a first record for the entire Mediterranean basin. Finally, Colpomenia peregrina (Chlorophyta) and Caulerpa taxifolia (Ochrophyta) highlight ephemeral “boom-and-bust” occurrences in Croatia, raising questions about transient invasive dynamics. These collective findings underscore the importance of coordinated monitoring efforts, inclusive of both scientific and citizen-based approaches, to better understand and manage marine biodiversity shifts in the Mediterranean.
Keywords: invasive species, Mediterranean Sea, climate change
Published in DiRROS: 08.04.2025; Views: 141; Downloads: 77
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Abstract: Pisauridae are a global and heterogeneous assemblage of spider genera with diverse morphologies and lifestyles. So far, the monophyly of Pisauridae and the inclusion of fishing spiders (Dolomedes) in this family have not been thoroughly tested. Here, we amend the systematics and classification of these lineages within a UCE phylogenomic framework and through a detailed morphological reappraisal. For estimations of their evolutionary age, we perform and compare outcomes from two divergence estimation approaches, an a posteriori likelihood, and an a priori Bayesian. Phylogenies reject the monophyly of both Pisauridae and Dolomedes: (1) Focal Clade I groups true Pisauridae genera including Pisaura; (2) Focal Clade II contains Blandinia and is sister to Trechaleidae and Lycosidae; (3) Focal Clade III groups Dolomedes, Megadolomedes, and Ornodolomedes, and is sister to Blandinia, Trechaleidae, and Lycosidae. We therefore propose to delimit Pisauridae by removing Dolomedidae rank resurrected (including Dolomedes, Bradystichus, Megadolomedes, Caledomedes, Mangromedes, Ornodolomedes, and Tasmomedes) and Blandinia incertae sedis. Likelihood and Bayesian time calibration approaches yield comparable divergence estimations: Pisauridae origin is estimated at 29–40Ma; Blandinia 21–34Ma; Dolomedidae 10–17Ma; Dolomedes 9–16Ma. Reconstructions suggest that the evolution of terrestrial and web-building lifestyles from semi-aquatic ancestors in Pisauridae coincided with cooling and drying climates during the mid-Miocene, but this was not the case in the few recent cases of terrestrialization in Dolomedes species. This historic reconstruction illustrates how climatic changes, or rapid radiation, can drive lifestyle diversification.
Keywords: classification, climate change, divergence time estimation, Dolomedes, fishing spiders, lifestyle evolution, MCMCtree, RelTime
Published in DiRROS: 28.03.2025; Views: 208; Downloads: 148
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Abstract: With ongoing global warming, increasing water deficits promote physiological stress on forest ecosystems with negative impacts on tree growth, vitality, and survival. How individual tree species will react to increased drought stress is therefore a key research question to address for carbon accounting and the development of climate change mitigation strategies. Recent tree-ring studies have shown that trees at higher latitudes will benefit from warmer temperatures, yet this is likely highly species-dependent and less well-known for more temperate tree species. Using a unique pan-European tree-ring network of 26,430 European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees from 2118 sites, we applied a linear mixed-effects modeling framework to (i) explain variation in climate-dependent growth and (ii) project growth for the near future (2021–2050) across the entire distribution of beech. We modeled the spatial pattern of radial growth responses to annually varying climate as a function of mean climate conditions (mean annual temperature, mean annual climatic water balance, and continentality). Over the calibration period (1952–2011), the model yielded high regional explanatory power (R2 = 0.38–0.72). Considering a moderate climate change scenario (CMIP6 SSP2-4.5), beech growth is projected to decrease in the future across most of its distribution range. In particular, projected growth decreases by 12%–18% (interquartile range) in northwestern Central Europe and by 11%–21% in the Mediterranean region. In contrast, climate-driven growth increases are limited to around 13% of the current occurrence, where the historical mean annual temperature was below ~6°C. More specifically, the model predicts a 3%–24% growth increase in the high-elevation clusters of the Alps and Carpathian Arc. Notably, we find little potential for future growth increases (−10 to +2%) at the poleward leading edge in southern Scandinavia. Because in this region beech growth is found to be primarily water-limited, a northward shift in its distributional range will be constrained by water availability.
Keywords: climate change, climate sensitivity, drought, Fagus sylvatica, growth projection, leading edge, trailing edge, tree rings
Published in DiRROS: 10.02.2025; Views: 222; Downloads: 134
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Keywords: agricultural input, output prices, price volatility, meat industry, climate change, GMG emissions, smale cattle herds, Slovenia, environmental regulations, animal welfare
Published in DiRROS: 27.11.2024; Views: 301; Downloads: 80
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Abstract: Across much of Europe, climate change has caused a major dieback of Norway spruce (Picea abies L.), an economically important tree species. However, the southeasternmost fringe of this tree species – the Eastern Carpathians – has not yet suffered large-scale dieback. Studying temporal shifts of climate sensitivity (TSCS) over time may elucidate the degree to which Norway spruce may be vulnerable to climate-change induced decline in upcoming decades. Under this framework, we analyzed a regional tree-ring network comprising >3000 trees, with the aim of quantifying TSCS since 1950. We mathematically defined TSCS as the slope parameter of the regression of climate sensitivity (the correlation coefficient) over time. Given the often-observed contrasting shift of climate sensitivity at low versus high elevations, we were particularly interested in studying potentially divergent TSCS along elevational and spatial gradients. Our analyses revealed several indications of TSCS for Norway spruce in the Eastern Carpathians. First, at high elevations (>1100 m a.s.l.), we found that the positive link between summer temperature and spruce growth decreased significantly over the study period. In turn, these trees, over time, featured an increasing positive relationship with late winter temperatures. At low elevations (<800 m a.s.l.), the signal of positive summer Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) correlation became more frequent among sites towards 2021, while the strength of the positive winter SPEI correlation from the previous growing season weakened. Our results revealed that TSCS was driven significantly by an elevational climate gradient and a longitudinal continentality gradient. Overall, our findings indicate that Norway spruce is increasingly affected by water limitations under climate change at low elevations, highlighting a potentially rising risk of decline of this species in the Eastern Carpathians.
Keywords: temperature, water availability, climate change, tree-ring width, non-stationarity, Picea abies, daily climate-growth relationships
Published in DiRROS: 30.09.2024; Views: 487; Downloads: 757
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