The extension of market systems and economic appraisal methods to the natural world and allocation of scarce resources is highly controversial and viewed by some as unethical. This has resulted in questions about the appropriate role of valuation and appraisal methods in informing policy and decision-making. We address this issue by assessing the different points of view that exist in marine research, ...

Citizen Science has traditionally been applied in biodiversity monitoring, as the approach holds the potential for conducting large-scale data collections. However, involving citizens in more than data collection is still in its infancy. In this paper, we present the results of an ongoing citizen science project that expands the partnership between citizens and researchers by involving citizens in ...

The high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (74°–81° north) experiences extended periods of uninterrupted daylight in summer and uninterrupted night in winter, apparently relaxing the major driver for the evolution of circadian rhythmicity. Svalbard ptarmigan (<i>Lagopus muta hyperborea</i>) is the only year-round resident terrestrial bird species endemic to the high Arctic and is remarkably adapted to ...

Plant–visitor food webs provide important insights into species interactions, and more information about their seasonal dynamics is vital to understanding the resilience of species to external pressures. Studies of Arctic networks can also improve our understanding of species responses to the pressures of climate change. This study provides the first description of a plant – insect visitor network ...

The diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton is one of the largest species migrations to occur globally and is a key driver of regional ecosystems and the marine carbon pump. The dramatic changes in the Arctic environment in recent years, mainly associated with sea-ice decline, may have wide significance for the Arctic shelf ecosystems including DVM. Observations have revealed the occurrence of ...

Current seawater temperatures around the northeastern Arabian Peninsula resemble future global forecasts as temperatures [35 C are commonly observed in summer. To provide a more fundamental aim of understanding the structure of wild populations in extreme environmental conditions, we conducted a population genetic study of a widespread, regional endemic table coral species, Acropora downingi, ...

The relative contribution of bryophytes to plant diversity, primary productivity, and ecosystem functioning increases towards colder climates. Bryophytes respond to environmental changes at the species level, but because bryophyte species are relatively difficult to identify, they are often lumped into one functional group. Consequently, bryophyte function remains poorly resolved. Here, we explore ...

Feeding 3.9 and 6.7 mg Hg/kg (Se/Hg molar ratios of 0.8 and 0.4, respectively) for 14 days negatively afected Dicentrarchus labrax growth and total DNTB- and thioredoxin-reductase (TrxR) activities and the transcription of four redox genes (txn1, gpx1, txnrd3, and txnrd2) in the liver, but a diet with 0.5 mg Hg/kg (Se/Hg molar ratio 6.6) slightly increased both reductase activities and the ...

Global warming is predicted to have major effects on the annual time windows during which species may successfully reproduce. At the organismal level, climatic shifts engage with the control mechanism for reproductive seasonality. In mammals, laboratory studies on neuroendocrine mechanism emphasize photoperiod as a predictive cue, but this is based on a restricted group of species. In contrast, ...

The alarming decline of amphibians around the world calls for complementary studies to better understand their responses to climate change. In mountain environments, water resources linked to snowmelt play a major role in allowing amphibians to complete tadpole metamorphosis. As snow cover duration has significantly decreased since the 1970s, amphibian populations could be strongly impacted by climate ...