Biology and Life Sciences Forum, Volume 13, Issue 1

The Biology and Life Sciences Forum retracts the study titled “On the Use of Stereo-Video System to Assess Microhabitat Preferences of the Spanish Toothcarp and Mosquitofish in Coastal Salt Marshes” [...]

Fresh waters are among the most imperiled ecosystems in the world. Not surprisingly, freshwater and diadromous fishes, which show remarkably high levels of endemism, are declining dramatically worldwide. In Portugal, more than 60% of the native fishe...

Populations of freshwater fish species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula have been declining since the mid-20th century, and several types of actions (from in situ to ex situ measurements) have been applied over the past decades for preserving these s...

Populations of freshwater fish species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula have been declining since the mid-20th century, and the captive breeding of highly endangered species is considered to be a useful tool to restock declining populations. A pionee...

The European eel is critically endangered (IUCN, 2020) due to several factors (climate change, barriers to migration, pollution, unsustainable exploitation, illegal trading and poaching, and pathogens). However, the relative effect of these factors c...

This study aimed to analyse the integrated system of red seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii and clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris. Experiments were performed in a 45 L aquarium under the following controlled conditions: temperature 22 °C, dissolved oxyge...

Brown trout (Salmo trutta) populations living in Mediterranean peninsulas and the surrounding islands belong to old evolutionary lineages that persisted during Quaternary glaciations. Many of these populations inhabit marginal areas along the south l...

Recent climate scenarios predict dramatic changes for the inland region of Portugal, where the increase in air temperature might reach +5 °C by 2100, accompanied by a strong decrease in precipitation and an increase in extreme events. Such foreca...

In Mediterranean streams and rivers in general, aquatic organisms use a specific habitat for rearing, growing, breeding, and wintering. Multiple studies have focused on this subject, but few for the specific purpose of developing suitability models t...

An increasing number of reef fish species have been shown to form spawning aggregations. These aggregations occur at predictable times and places, with participants utilizing single or mixed mating systems. In a lek-like mating system, males establis...

Sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is one of the most important fish species in European aquaculture, and it is farmed in different types of facilities and environmental conditions, which may imply differences in the development and the condition of the...

Allis shad (Alosa alosa L.) populations have suffered declines and even regional extinction across their distribution range, mainly due to river impoundment, overexploitation, and pollution. In Portugal, the species is classified as Endangered (EN)....

The trout Salmo trutta L. is an iconic fish species very well studied across most of its range. However, there is a lack of information about the biology and ecology of S. trutta populations from southern European rivers, which coincide with the sout...

The aim of this project is to promote the recovery of ecological connectivity within 10–20 years in the lower Ebre River and Delta, and a healthy and sustainable population of diadromous fish, including European sturgeon (Acipenser sturio), Eur...

Brown trout (Salmo trutta) has high ecological and socio-economic importance in many cold-water rivers of northern and central Portugal. However, no studies have addressed the ecology of this species on a large scale. To understand factors driving Br...

The “Rio Novo do Principe” temporary tidal weir is built annually in the brackish section of the Vouga river to prevent saline intrusion during the low-flow summer period, thus securing freshwater abstraction for agricultural and industri...

According to the latest IPCC report on impacts and adaptation, ocean and coastal systems are already reaching tipping points, where habitat-forming species such as corals and seagrasses will reach non-reversible shifts, even below 1.5 °C warming....

The conservation of fish biodiversity requires reliable information on their distribution and habitat use, especially of endemic species that generally occur in restricted geographic areas and specific habitats. This is the case of threespine stickle...

Biological invasions are considered one of the main extinction drivers of native species worldwide. Invasive species have detrimental effects on local ecosystems by means of competition, predation, habitat modification and nutrient cycling, as well a...

The introduction of exotic fish species is a global ecological and conservation problem that has caused the reduction and extinction of numerous native species. In Spain, the introduction of exotic freshwater fish is one of the main factors threateni...

The Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei Steindachner, 1864) and the Iberian nase (Pseudochondrostoma polylepis Steindachner, 1864) are two potamodromous species that migrate upstream in freshwater environments to reproduce. Thus, river fragmentation...

Fish rely heavily on olfaction for many aspects of their lives including foraging, defense, migration, and reproduction. Olfactory receptor neurons in the olfactory epithelium are in direct contact with the water, and are, therefore, exposed to chang...

The intensification of aquaculture practices in the last decade has led to the reduction in welfare of farmed fish. Recently, one of the tools that has been considered important to guarantee or improve the welfare of captive fish is the application o...

The project “Recovery and Protection of Margaritifera margaritifera” (POSEUR-03-2215-FC-000096) was developed to protect and restore freshwater pearl mussel M. margaritifera and brown trout S. trutta populations in Portugal. To conduct th...

Rivers have always been linked to society development, as such they are amongst the most impacted ecosystems in the world. One of the most impairing impacts is the one promoted by instream barriers that fragment river network connectivity and impede...

Diadromous fish are declining across their Atlantic distribution, and the status of their future is very worrying with the additional threat posed by climate change right now. European stakeholders and policy makers know very well the benefits provid...

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have played an important role in the protection of endangered species such as the dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus), and the no-take areas have been particularly crucial for this purpose. Yet, despite the establishm...

Freshwater fish species comprise 40% of all fish diversity and provide multiple ecosystem services. Recently, several populations of this faunal group have faced declines and range contractions due to several threats. The Red List of Threatened Speci...

Habitat loss and overfishing are the most significant threats to diadromous fish, most of them of high socioeconomic and conservationist importance, such as Alosa alosa, Alosa fallax, Petromyzon marinus and Anguilla anguilla. The main objective of th...

In the late 1970s, studies on the population structure of S. brasiliensis suggested the existence of two stocks, considering distinct regional somatic growth rates and spawning areas (23–25° S and 26–28° S). This scenario was furt...

Freshwater fish diversity is highly imperiled due to environmental change, habitat destruction, over-fishing and invasive species. Consequently, it is crucial to develop efficient and easy-to-standardize tools to describe these communities. Tradition...

One of the main reasons for the collapse of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) is habitat loss resulting from the severe obstruction of rivers throughout the species’ range. Specific fish passes (i.e., eel ladders) can be installed in weir...

The brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) is one of the most iconic native species from European river ecosystems and is also one of the main species of interest for recreational fishing activities (e.g., fly fishing). This species has a significant potentia...

Mangroves have been recognized worldwide as crucial nursery areas for fish larvae and juveniles. Although they are critical for managing coastal fish stocks, information about larval fish communities in African island mangroves is scarce and these po...

Inland wetlands are important biodiversity hotspots and amongst the most impacted ecosystems worldwide. Conservation management and restauration actions in wetlands are thus urgently needed to reverse trends in species loss and habitat degradation, p...

Due to the decline in catches of Atlantic salmon at the end of the 1980s, the Natural Heritage Service of the Xunta de Galicia has been obtaining data on the returning adults and the downstream migration of juvenile at the Ximonde fish-trap station s...

The European vendace (Coregonus albula (L.)) is often treated as one of the glacial relicts of the animal world, and it is a widespread species in the waters of the Holarctic. Together with whitefish and salmonid, vendace belongs to a list of economi...

Many of highly productive mid-latitude marine ecosystems share a prominent aspect in the configuration of their biological community structures. They appear to have a ‘wasp-waist’ food web, whereby the bottom (planktonic trophic levels) a...

Population genetic studies have been extensively used as tools for the management and conservation of salmonid species and related habitats. The brown trout, Salmo trutta (Linnaeus 1758), is one of the most studied species within its family, and is f...

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) are an emblematic anadromous fish species that inhabit marine and freshwater ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere. In Portugal, the southern limit of its global distribution range, the species is classified as Critic...

Rivers are intrinsically linked with human settlement and civilization development. This has forced upon rivers a multitude of pressures. Arguably, one of the most pervasive pressures is river network fragmentation. The consequent loss of longitudina...

The recovery of threatened and endangered fish species is among the highest priorities for biodiversity conservation in national parks and fisheries management in nearby areas. Threats to fish populations are numerous and include habitat fragmentatio...

Historical information on diadromous fish species is commonly incomplete or truncated across the species distribution range and spatial scales. However, historical insights have proven to be very relevant for river management and conservation. The iP...

Trout (Salmo trutta) in the Extremadura region live in the Sierra de Gredos foothills, which is the southern distribution limit for this species in the Iberian Peninsula. Trout populations are declining mostly due to water resource development scheme...

Effective research, conservation and management of freshwater ecosystems must take into consideration the environment, ecosystem functioning and human activities at multiple river scales. The river Network toolkit (RivTool) is a user-friendly and fre...

The development of techniques that assist in the processes of taxonomic identification is of utmost importance, considering the scarcity of specialists and literature available in remote and diverse areas. Environmental studies such as the Biodiversi...

Both Royal Decree 817/2015 which establishes in Spain the criteria for monitoring and evaluating the surface water status and environmental quality standards, and the Order ARM/2656/2008, by which the hydrological planning instruction is approved, co...

The European eel population has declined over the last 50 years and is outside safe biological limits. In 2007, the European Commission enforced a regulation to ensure that all Member States implement Management Plans to achieve an escapement rate of...

Pseudochondrostoma willkommii, called Guadiana nase in the Iberian Peninsula, is an endemic cyprinid that lives in the middle stretches of rivers and is also common in still water. According to the literature, spawning occurs in April, after upstream...

Several skate and ray species are widely distributed in European Atlantic waters but many aspects still remain unknown: stock structure, species dynamics, migration movements, and spawning areas. Rays are vulnerable to overfishing and are bycatch spe...