Incorporating climate-readiness into fisheries management strategies.

Tropical oceans are among the first places to exhibit climate change signals, affecting the habitat distribution and abundance of marine fish. These changes to stocks, and subsequent impacts on fisheries production, may have considerable implications for coastal communities dependent on fisheries for food security and livelihoods. Understanding the impacts of climate change on tropical marine fisheries is therefore an important step towards developing sustainable, climate-ready fisheries management measures. We apply an established method of spatial meta-analysis to assess species distribution modelling datasets for key species targeted by the Philippines capture fisheries. We analysed datasets under two global emissions scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) and varying degrees of fishing pressure to quantify potential climate vulnerability of the target community. We found widespread responses to climate change in pelagic species in particular, with abundances projected to decline across much of the case study area, highlighting the challenges of maintaining food security in the face of a rapidly changing climate. We argue that sustainable fisheries management in the Philippines in the face of climate change can only be achieved through management strategies that allow for the mitigation of, and adaptation to, pressures already locked into the climate system for the near term. Our analysis may support this, providing fisheries managers with the means to identify potential climate change hotspots, bright spots and refugia, thereby supporting the development of climate-ready management plans.

Phylogeographic patterns in the Philippine archipelago influence symbiont diversity in the bobtail squid-Vibrio mutualism.

Marine microbes encounter a myriad of biotic and abiotic factors that can impact fitness by limiting their range and capacity to move between habitats. This is especially true for environmentally transmitted bacteria that cycle between their hosts and the surrounding habitat. As geologic history, biogeography, and other factors such as water temperature, salinity, and physical barriers can inhibit bacterial movement to novel environments, we chose to examine the genetic architecture of Euprymna albatrossae (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) and their Vibrio fischeri symbionts in the Philippine archipelago using a combined phylogeographic approach. Eleven separate sites in the Philippine islands were examined using haplotype estimates that were examined via nested clade analysis to determine the relationship between E. albatrossae and V. fischeri populations and their geographic location. Identical analyses of molecular variance (AMOVA) were used to estimate variation within and between populations for host and symbiont genetic data. Host animals demonstrated a significant amount of variation within island groups, while symbiont variation was found within individual populations. Nested clade phylogenetic analysis revealed that hosts and symbionts may have colonized this area at different times, with a sudden change in habitat. Additionally, host data indicate restricted gene flow, whereas symbionts show range expansion, followed by periodic restriction to genetic flow. These differences between host and symbiont networks indicate that factors "outside the squid" influence distribution of Philippine V. fischeri. Our results shed light on how geography and changing environmental factors can impact marine symbiotic associations at both local and global scales.

Non-resonant multiphoton photoacoustic spectroscopy for noninvasive subsurface chemical diagnostics.

This paper describes the development and validation of a novel noninvasive spectroscopic subsurface chemical detection technique, non-resonant multiphoton photoacoustic spectroscopy (NMPPAS). In this technique, non-resonant multiphoton excitation is used to provide subsurface excitation of chemical constituents in a sample followed by the subsequent detection of an acoustic signal using a piezoelectric transducer. Because NMPPAS relies on non-radiative relaxation of the absorbing species, it is capable of monitoring both fluorescent and non-fluorescent species. Moreover, since the majority of the energy imparted to most molecules upon the absorption of light is released through non-radiative pathways, sensitive measurements of even fluorescent molecules can be performed. In this paper, demonstration of proof-of-principle of this novel technique has been shown using test samples of common fluorescent dyes and biomarkers including rhodamine 6G, tryptophan, and NADH in solution and gelatin tissue phantoms. From these studies, it was found that detection limits of these chromophores are in the subnanomolar concentration regime. In addition, preliminary results on excised tumor and healthy tissue samples have demonstrated significant differences between the tumorous and non-tumorous tissues at 740 nm and 950 nm wavelengths. From this work, it was found that NMPPAS has a great deal of potential for subsurface chemical diagnostics in the field of biomedical research.

Serum concentrations of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in Platyrrhini and Catarrhini: A phylogenetic appraisal.

We measured the serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OH-D3) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-[OH]2-D3) in 23 different Platyrrhines from four different genera and in 21 Catarrhines from six different genera in residence at the Los Angeles Zoo. The mean (±S.E.) serum concentration of 1,25-(OH)2-D3 was significantly greater in Platyrrhines (810 ± 119 pg/ml) than in Catarrhines (61 ± 5 pg/ml), suggesting that high circulating concentrations of the active vitamin D hormone were a characteristic of New World primates in both the Cebidae and Callitrichidae family. This increase in the serum concentration of 1,25-(OH)2-D3 is probably an adaptational response on the part of Platyrrhini to offset a relative decrease in the concentration of specific receptor for 1,25-(OH)2-D3 in target tissues for the hormone.