Abstract

The animal gut hosts diverse bacterial communities that can affect the individual’s behavior, physiology, and metabolism. However, the relationship between an individual’s microbiome and its social behavior in the wild is poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that social behavior in the wild is correlated with the gut microbiome composition in a marine fish (Xyrichtys novacula). Relying on high-resolution acoustic telemetry, we first obtained a high-quality positioning data set from 232 individuals (153 females and 79 males). From these data, we computed the associations between paired individuals and found a harem-like social structure. Territories were formed by one male and several females, and males displayed agonistic behaviors towards their neighbors to defend territories. Subsequently, a sample of the social network was captured, and the diversity of the gut microbiome was quantified using operational phylogenetic units (OPUs) based on the analysis of 16S rRNA gene amplicons using Illumina high throughput sequencing. The social network properties were strongly correlated to the gut microbiome. Individual microbiome samples of fish from the same harem (including from different sex) were more similar to each other, while differences to other harems were strong. The use of similar local microhabitats, including food resources, as well as local social contact can both provide key transmission pathways for gut symbionts that shape gut microbiota, structuring the microbiome along social networks in aquatic animals. This work is among the first to show a relationship between social structure and the microbiome in a fish species in the wild. Further work is needed to reveal cause-and-effect relationships into whether the social network shapes the microbiome or the microbiome and the resulting metabolites shape certain behaviors that in turn create the network structure.

You4Blue - Young Generations for Sustainable Blue Growth es un proyecto Erasmus+ dirigido a estudiantes de secundaria en tres islas mediterráneas de la UE, con el objetivo de aumentar la conciencia sobre los desafíos ambientales y proporcionar herramientas para una vida sostenible. El proyecto fomenta una nueva relación con el medio ambiente, desarrolla competencias en áreas STEAM y TIC, y promueve habilidades blandas como la empatía y el pensamiento crítico.

En el marco de este proyecto, el “Sea Curriculum” promueve la participación de estudiantes locales en experiencias prácticas relacionadas con los ecosistemas y las ciencias marinas. Este componente está coordinado por IMEDEA en colaboración con IES Bendinat, con el objetivo de desarrollar e implementar estas actividades de aprendizaje. Una de las actividades consiste en que los estudiantes elijan una temática de investigación y preparen una presentación, la cual será expuesta en IMEDEA.

Comprender y mitigar la acidificación de los océanos

AUTORES: Gemma Semley-Dyne, Fiona Martina Torres Cruz, Manoela Tsvetanova Manolova, Marc Reynes Garcia, Amelia Moral Blanco, Vlada Stashkevych.

¿Es posible un turismo sostenible en Mallorca?

AUTORES: Marcos Merino Sierra, Amadou Sall, Toni Matias Castell, Daniel Sander Gassner, Diego Bertorelli Carmona

Praderas de Posidonia: ante una nueva extinción?

AUTORES: Fernando Blanes, Hugo Gonzalez, Noelia Navarro, Alicia Catalá, Andrea Thyus, Lily Ron

Abstract

Posidonia oceanica meadows have suffered a global regression in the Mediterranean Sea during the last decades. In order to counter this decline, some restoration projects have relied on the use of seedlings as a strategy to accelerate the natural recovery of their meadows and increase genetic diversity. Furthermore, understanding the dynamics and interactions that affect each species and between different organisms are key to enhance restoration success. On this project, we set an experiment in Pollensa Bay (Mallorca, Spain) to study whether P. oceanica seedlings, which had been previously cultured in controlled conditions for three months, improve their survivorship rates at different planting densities (1, 4, 8, 12 and 16 seedlings/0.04 m2). We planted the seedlings in two locations of Pollensa Bay, which presented different substrates: dead matte with marine phanerogams, sand with marine phanerogams and bare sand. Six months after plantation, no density-dependent effect was observed in any of the clumps anywhere. However, an interspecific facilitation effect was noticed for the seedlings planted in sand with other marine phanerogams, as they displayed a 39.27% ± 34.56 average survivorship rate, compared to 0% survivorship on this same substrate without any other seagrass around. Moreover, dead matte remained as the best substrate for restoration purposes, with an average survivorship rate of 57.07% ± 29.92. Our results reinforce the relevance of understanding the ecological interactions between seagrass species in order to increase restoration success, as well as the main factors affecting the survivorship of P. oceanica seedlings in the early stages after establishment in the substrate.