Microgobius meeki as a potential bio-indicator of habitat disturbance in shallow estuarine areas: a useful tool for the assessment of estuarine quality

Bridging archaeology and marine conservation in the Neotropics

Anthropogenic impacts on tropical and subtropical coastal environments are increasing at an alarming rate, compromising ecosystem functions, structures and services. Understanding the scale of marine population decline and diversity loss requires a long-term perspective that incorporates information from a range of sources. The Southern Atlantic Ocean represents a major gap in our understanding of pre-industrial marine species composition. Here we begin to fill this gap by performing an extensive review of the published data on Middle and Late Holocene marine fish remains along the southern coast of Brazil. This region preserves archaeological sites that are unique archives of past socio-ecological systems and pre-European biological diversity. We assessed snapshots of species compositions and relative abundances spanning the last 9500 years, and modelled differences in species' functional traits between archaeological and modern fisheries. We found evidence for both generalist and specialist fishing practices in pre-European times, with large body size and body mass caught regularly over hundreds of years. Comparison with modern catches revealed a significant decline in these functional traits, possibly associated with overfishing and escalating human impacts in recent times.

From ecological functions to ecosystem services: linking coastal lagoons biodiversity with human well-being

In this review we highlight the relevance of biodiversity that inhabit coastal lagoons, emphasizing how species functions foster processes and services associated with this ecosystem. We identified 26 ecosystem services underpinned by ecological functions performed by bacteria and other microbial organisms, zooplankton, polychaetae worms, mollusks, macro-crustaceans, fishes, birds, and aquatic mammals. These groups present high functional redundancy but perform complementary functions that result in distinct ecosystem processes. Because coastal lagoons are located in the interface between freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, the ecosystem services provided by the biodiversity surpass the lagoon itself and benefit society in a wider spatial and historical context. The species loss in coastal lagoons due to multiple human-driven impacts affects the ecosystem functioning, influencing negatively the provision of all categories of services (i.e., supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural). Because animals' assemblages have unequal spatial and temporal distribution in coastal lagoons, it is necessary to adopt ecosystem-level management plans to protect habitat heterogeneity and its biodiversity, ensuring the provision of services for human well-being to multi-actors in the coastal zone.

Gill Histopathological Biomarkers in Fish Exposed to Trace Metals in the Todos os Santos Bay, Brazil

Histopathologies are widely recognized as biomarkers of environmental pollution. In this sense, we evaluated the putative relationship of gill histopathologies and distinct ecological impacts in two regions of Todos os Santos Bay (BTS), Brazil, the largest bay in Northeastern Brazil, South Atlantic. We compared the presence and concentration of metals (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) in water, sediments, and gills and gill histopathologies of a demersal fish (Diapterus rhombeus) and a benthic fish (Ogcocephalus vespertilio). As expected, fish and sediment samples from historically contaminated areas (Aratu) showed more remarkable traces of metals than apparently low-impact areas (Jaguaripe). Likewise, the DTC (degree of tissue change) index and the volume densities were higher in fish caught in Aratu. In addition, the Diapterus rhombeus species showed more potential than Ogcocephalus vespertilio for risk assessment as it showed more responses to the environment reflected on more histopathologies. These data support the effectiveness of incorporating functional gill morphology to monitor impacts on estuarine biota that can be used as a reference to improve the management of ecosystems and prevent harm to human health.