Long-term monitoring projects of Brazilian marine and coastal ecosystems.

Biodiversity assessment is a mandatory task for sustainable and adaptive management for the next decade, and long-term ecological monitoring programs are a cornerstone for understanding changes in ecosystems. The Brazilian Long-Term Ecological Research Program (PELD) is an integrated effort model supported by public funds that finance ecological studies at 34 locations. By interviewing and compiling data from project coordinators, we assessed monitoring efforts, targeting biological groups and scientific production from nine PELD projects encompassing coastal lagoons to mesophotic reefs and oceanic islands. Reef environments and fish groups were the most often studied within the long-term projects. PELD projects covered priority areas for conservation but missed sensitive areas close to large cities, as well as underrepresenting ecosystems on the North and Northeast Brazilian coast. Long-term monitoring projects in marine and coastal environments in Brazil are recent (<5 years), not yet integrated as a network, but scientifically productive with considerable relevance for academic and human resources training. Scientific production increased exponentially with project age, despite interruption and shortage of funding during their history. From our diagnosis, we recommend some actions to fill in observed gaps, such as: enhancing projects' collaboration and integration; focusing on priority regions for new projects; broadening the scope of monitored variables; and, maintenance of funding for existing projects.

Holistic Environmental Approaches and Aichi Biodiversity Targets: accomplishments and perspectives for marine ecosystems.

In order to help safeguard biodiversity from global changes, the Conference of the Parties developed a Strategic Plan for Biodiversity for the period 2011-2020 that included a list of twenty specific objectives known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. With the end of that timeframe in sight, and despite major advancements in biodiversity conservation, evidence suggests that the majority of the Targets are unlikely to be met. This article is part of a series of perspective pieces from the 4th World Conference on Marine Biodiversity (May 2018, Montréal, Canada) to identify next steps towards successful biodiversity conservation in marine environments. We specifically reviewed holistic environmental assessment studies (HEA) and their contribution to reaching the Targets. Our analysis was based on multiple environmental approaches which can be considered as holistic, and we discuss how HEA can contribute to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in the near future. We found that only a few HEA articles considered a specific Biodiversity Target in their research, and that Target 11, which focuses on marine protected areas, was the most commonly cited. We propose five research priorities to enhance HEA for marine biodiversity conservation beyond 2020: (i) expand the use of holistic approaches in environmental assessments, (ii) standardize HEA vocabulary, (iii) enhance data collection, sharing and management, (iv) consider ecosystem spatio-temporal variability and (v) integrate ecosystem services in HEA. The consideration of these priorities will promote the value of HEA and will benefit the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity.

Environmental Variability and Cyanobacterial Blooms in a Subtropical Coastal Lagoon: Searching for a Sign of Climate Change Effects.

Cyanobacterial blooms in marine and freshwater environments may be favored by shifts in physical water column parameters due to warming under climate change. The Patos Lagoon (PL), a subtropical coastal environment in southern Brazil, is known for recurrent blooms of Microcystis aeruginosa complex (MAC). Here, we analyze the variability of these blooms and their relation to changes in wind direction and speed, rainfall and freshwater run-off from 2000 to 2017. Also, we discuss both longer time-series of air temperature and rainfall and a review of local studies with microcystins produced by these noxious species. Since the 1980s, MAC blooms were associated to negative anomalies in annual precipitation that occur during La Niña periods and, in the last years (2001-2014), accompanied by a trend in low river discharge. MAC blooms were conspicuous from December to March, i.e., austral summer, with massive patches seen in satellite images as for 2017. We suggest that low rainfall and run-off years under NE wind-driven hydrodynamics might accumulate MAC biomass in the west margin of the PL system. In contrast, a positive, long-term trend in precipitation (from 1950 to 2016; slope = 3.9868 mm/yr, p < 0.05) should imply in high river discharge and, consequently, advection of this biomass to the adjacent coastal region. Due to the proximity to urban areas, the blooms can represent recreational and economic hazards to the region.

Efficiently enforcing artisanal fisheries to protect estuarine biodiversity.

Artisanal fisheries support millions of livelihoods worldwide, yet ineffective enforcement can allow for continued environmental degradation due to overexploitation. Here, we use spatial planning to design an enforcement strategy for a pre-existing spatial closure for artisanal fisheries considering climate variability, existing seasonal fishing closures, representative conservation targets and enforcement costs. We calculated enforcement cost in three ways, based on different assumptions about who could be responsible for monitoring the fishery. We applied this approach in the Patos Lagoon estuary (Brazil), where we found three important results. First, spatial priorities for enforcement were similar under different climate scenarios. Second, we found that the cost and percentage of area enforced varied among scenarios tested by the conservation planning analysis, with only a modest increase in budget needed to incorporate climate variability. Third, we found that spatial priorities for enforcement depend on whether enforcement is carried out by a central authority or by the community itself. Here, we demonstrated a method that can be used to efficiently design enforcement plans, resulting in the conservation of biodiversity and estuarine resources. Also, cost of enforcement can be potentially reduced when fishers are empowered to enforce management within their fishing grounds.

Whitemouth croaker, Micropogonias furnieri, trapped in a freshwater coastal lagoon: a natural comparison of freshwater and marine influences on otolith chemistry

Strontium and barium incorporation into otoliths was compared between whitemouth croaker, Micropogonias furnieri, collected from an entrapped freshwater population (Mirim Lagoon) and a normal marine/estuarine population in southern Brazil. Chemical analysis was performed using LA-ICPMS with the objective of validating the effects of marine and freshwater environments on Sr and Ba incorporation as a basis for further investigation of marine and freshwater connectivity of M. furnieri. The freshwater population was dominated by older fish with mean ±SD age of 34±1 y, whereas the coastal samples were dominated by younger fish of 14±7 y. Comparison of strontium and barium incorporation among otolith life-history profiles indicated significantly higher barium and lower strontium for the freshwater population compared to the marine population. Furthermore, comparison of otolith material deposited in the freshwater, estuarine and marine life-history phases demonstrated clear differences among these environments. Mean concentrations of strontium and barium in otoliths of M. furnieri were respectively 710 and 112 µg g-1 for freshwater, 2069 and 16.7 µg g-1 for estuarine, and 2990 and 2.7 µg g-1 for marine life-history phases. Barium concentrations in otoliths from the freshwater population of M. furnieri appeared high relative to other freshwater species. Strontium levels across life-history profiles of marine fish increased with age from 2000 to 2900 µg g-1, possibly indicating more time spent in marine than estuarine waters with age. In contrast, for the freshwater population, strontium levels decreased during the first year of life approximately to 700 µg g-1, and remained low and stable thereafter, consistent with the early life-history occurring in an estuarine environment prior to entrapment in Mirim Lagoon. The results confirm the strong and opposite effects of marine and freshwater environments on incorporation of barium and strontium into...

Estrôncio e bário foram determinados em otólitos de corvina Micropogonias furnieri coletados em habitats de água doce (lagoa Mirim) e costeiros no Sul Brasil. As análises foram realizadas utilizando-se LA-ICPMS, com o objetivo de estabelecer assinaturas químicas específicas para os diferentes habitats e avaliar a aplicabilidade da química de otólitos para o estudo de mudanças de habitat na espécie em questão para futuros estudos sobre conectividade de populações. Os animais coletados na lagoa Mirim apresentaram idade média de 34±1 anos, não sendo observados adultos jovens ou juvenis. Foi verificada uma variação significativa nas concentrações de Sr e Ba em otólitos para áreas marinhas e de água doce. Para ambientes marinhos, a idade média foi de 14±7 anos. Os valores médios de Sr e Ba foram estimados, respectivamente, em 710 e 112 µg g-1 para água doce, 2069 e 16,7 µg g-1 para água estuarina e 2990 e 2,7 µg g-1 para águas costeiras. Nos otólitos provenientes dos indivíduos de água doce, o Ba apresentou concentrações mais altas quando comparado a valores observados para outras espécies. Observou-se que a incorporação de Ba nos otólitos ao longo da vida sofre certa influência ontogenética, com valores mais altos medidos no início da vida. As concentrações de Sr em otólitos de animais costeiros aumentaram em média de 2000 a 2900 µg g-1 ao longo da vida, indicando a mudança de habitats estuarinos para marinhos. Para água doce, a concentração de Sr decresce antes do primeiro ano até valores em torno de 700 µg g-1 mantendo essa concentração por toda a vida, indicando um ambiente de água doce estável. Estes resultados confirmam o forte efeito inverso que ambientes marinhos e de água doce promovem na incorporação de Sr e Ba em otólitos e permitem sugerir que a corvina encontrada na lagoa Mirim é representada por um grupo isolado de animais com baixa probabilidade de reprodução que, portanto, será possivelmente extinto nos próximos anos.