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National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)

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    Distribution, temporal change, and conservation status of tropical seagrass beds in Southeast Asia: 2000–2020
    Sudo, Kenji; Quiros, T. E. Angela L.; Prathep, Anchana; Luong, Cao Van; Lin, Hsing-Juh; Bujang, Japar Sidik; Ooi, Jillian Lean Sim; Fortes, Miguel D.; Zakaria, Muta Harah; Yaakub, Siti Maryam; Tan, Yi Mei; Huang, Xiaoping; Nakaoka, Masahiro (Frontiers Media SA, 2021-07-08)
    Although Southeast Asia is a hotspot of global seagrass diversity, there are considerable information gaps in the distribution of seagrass beds. Broad-scale seagrass distribution has not been updated in the global seagrass database by UNEP-WCMC since 2000, although studies on seagrasses have been undertaken intensively in each region. Here we analyze the recent distribution of tropical seagrass beds, their temporal changes, causes of decline and conservation status in Southeast Asia (plus southern mainland China, Taiwan and Ryukyu Island of Japan) using data collected after 2000. Based on the 195 literature published since 2000, we identified 1,259 point data and 1,461 polygon data showing the distribution of seagrass beds. A large discrepancy was found in the seagrass bed distribution between our updated data and the UNEP-WCMC database, mostly due to inaccurate and low resolution location information in the latter. Temporal changes in seagrass bed area analyzed for 68 sites in nine countries/regions demonstrated that more than 60% of seagrass beds declined at an average rate of 10.9% year–1, whereas 20% of beds increased at an average rate of 8.1% year–1, leading to an overall average decline of 4.7% year–1. Various types of human-induced threats were reported as causes for the decline, including coastal development, fisheries/aquaculture, and natural factors such as typhoons and tsunamis. The percentage of seagrass beds covered with existing marine protected areas (MPAs) varied greatly among countries/regions, from less than 1% in Brunei Darussalam and Singapore to 100% in southern Japan. However, the degree of conservation regulation was not sufficient even in regions with higher MPA coverage. The percentage of seagrass beds within EBSAs (Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area determined by the Convention of Biological Diversity) was higher than that within MPAs because EBSAs cover a greater area than MPAs. Therefore, designating EBSAs as legally effective MPAs can greatly improve the conservation status of seagrass beds in Southeast Asia.
    This manuscript is a contribution to the Asia-Pacific Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (AP-MBON) of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON). We are grateful to the members of Phuket Marine Biological Center in Thailand and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology for providing local literature and data on seagrass bed distribution. This paper is dedicated to Chittima Aryuthaka who contributed greatly to the development of marine biology and ecology in Asia during her lifetime.
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    Trans-Arctic asymmetries, melting pots and weak species cohesion in the low-dispersal amphiboreal seaweed Fucus distichus
    Neiva, João; Assis, Jorge; Fragkopoulou, Eliza; Pearson, Gareth A.; Raimondi, Peter T.; Anderson, Laura; Krause-Jensen, Dorte; Marbà, Núria; Want, Andrew; Selivanova, Olga; Nakaoka, Masahiro; Grant, W. Stewart; Konar, Brenda; Roleda, Michael Y.; Sejr, Mikael K.; Paulino, Cristina; Serrão, Ester A. (Frontiers Media SA, 2024-04-18)
    Amphiboreal taxa are often composed of vicariant phylogroups and species complexes whose divergence and phylogeographic affinities reflect a shared history of chronic isolation and episodic trans-Arctic dispersal. Ecological filters and shifting selective pressures may also promote selective sweeps, niche shifts and ecological speciation during colonization, but these are seldom considered at biogeographical scales. Here we integrate genetic data and Ecologic Niche Models (ENMs) to investigate the historical biogeography and cohesion of the polymorphic rockweed Fucus distichus throughout its immense amphiboreal range, focusing on trans-Arctic asymmetries, glacial/interglacial dynamics, and integrity of sympatric eco-morphotypes. Populations were sampled throughout the Pacific and the Atlantic, from southern rear-edges to the high-Arctic. They were genotyped for seven microsatellites and an mtDNA spacer, and genetic diversity and structure were assessed from global to local scales. ENMs were used to compare niche divergence and magnitude of post-glacial range shifts in Pacific versus Atlantic sub-ranges. Haplotypic and genotypic data revealed distinct and seemingly isolated Pacific vs Arctic/Atlantic gene-pools, with finer-scale regional sub-structuring pervasive in the Pacific. MtDNA diversity was highly structured and overwhelmingly concentrated in the Pacific. Regionally, Alaska showed the highest intra-population diversity but the lowest levels of endemism. Some sympatric/parapatric ecotypes exhibited distinct genotypic/haplotypic compositions. Strikingly, niche models revealed higher Pacific tolerance to maximum temperatures and predicted a much more consolidated presence in the NE Atlantic. Glacial and modern ranges overlapped extensively in the Pacific, whereas the modern Atlantic range was largely glaciated or emerged during the Last Glacial Maximum. Higher genetic and ecogeographic diversity supports a primary Pacific diversification and secondary Atlantic colonization, also likely reflecting the much larger and more stable climatic refugia in the Pacific. The relic distribution and reduced ecological/morphological plasticity in the NE Atlantic are hypothesized to reflect functional trans-Arctic bottlenecks, recent colonization or competition with congeners. Within the Pacific, Alaska showed signatures of a post-glacial melting pot of eastern and southern populations. Genetic/ecotypic variation was generally not sufficiently discontinuous or consistent to justify recognizing multiple taxonomic entities, but support a separate species in the eastern Pacific, at the southern rear-edge. We predict that layered patterns of phylogeographic structure, incipient speciation and niche differences might be common among widespread low-dispersal amphiboreal taxa.
    The authors thank Marta Valente (CCMAR), André Silva and Diogo Brito for sequencing and genotyping work and all the people involved in sample collection. Samples from Logy Bay were kindly collected by Kyle R. Millar. DK-J and NM thank Hurtigruten’s FRAM cruise for help with sampling along the Greenland west coast. Greenland sampling was also connected with campaigns for the MarineBasis component of the Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM) Programme in Nuuk and Young Sound, which is acknowledged.