Browsing by Author "Kotta, Jonne"
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- A meta-analysis of seaweed impacts on seagrasses: generalities and knowledge gapsPublication . Thomsen, Mads S.; Wernberg, Thomas; Engelen, Aschwin; Tuya, Fernando; Vanderklift, Mat A.; Holmer, Marianne; McGlathery, Karen J.; Arenas, Francisco; Kotta, Jonne; Sillimann, Brian R.Seagrasses are important habitat-formers and ecosystem engineers that are under threat from bloom-forming seaweeds. These seaweeds have been suggested to outcompete the seagrasses, particularly when facilitated by eutrophication, causing regime shifts where green meadows and clear waters are replaced with unstable sediments, turbid waters, hypoxia, and poor habitat conditions for fishes and invertebrates. Understanding the situations under which seaweeds impact seagrasses on local patch scales can help proactive management and prevent losses at greater scales. Here, we provide a quantitative review of available published manipulative experiments (all conducted at the patch-scale), to test which attributes of seaweeds and seagrasses (e.g., their abundances, sizes, morphology, taxonomy, attachment type, or origin) influence impacts. Weighted and unweighted meta-analyses (Hedges d metric) of 59 experiments showed generally high variability in attribute-impact relationships. Our main significant findings were that (a) abundant seaweeds had stronger negative impacts on seagrasses than sparse seaweeds, (b) unattached and epiphytic seaweeds had stronger impacts than 'rooted' seaweeds, and (c) small seagrass species were more susceptible than larger species. Findings (a) and (c) were rather intuitive. It was more surprising that 'rooted' seaweeds had comparatively small impacts, particularly given that this category included the infamous invasive Caulerpa species. This result may reflect that seaweed biomass and/or shading and metabolic by-products like anoxia and sulphides could be lower for rooted seaweeds. In conclusion, our results represent simple and robust first-order generalities about seaweed impacts on seagrasses. This review also documented a limited number of primary studies. We therefore identified major knowledge gaps that need to be addressed before general predictive models on seaweed-seagrass interactions can be build, in order to effectively protect seagrass habitats from detrimental competition from seaweeds.
- A new network for the advancement of marine biotechnology in Europe and beyondPublication . Rotter, Ana; Bacu, Ariola; Barbier, Michèle; Bertoni, Francesco; Bones, Atle M.; Cancela, M. Leonor; Carlsson, Jens; Carvalho, Maria F.; Cegłowska, Marta; Dalay, Meltem Conk; Dailianis, Thanos; Deniz, Irem; Drakulovic, Dragana; Dubnika, Arita; Einarsson, Hjörleifur; Erdoğan, Ayşegül; Eroldoğan, Orhan Tufan; Ezra, David; Fazi, Stefano; FitzGerald, Richard J.; Gargan, Laura M.; Gaudêncio, Susana P.; Ivošević DeNardis, Nadica; Joksimovic, Danijela; Kataržytė, Marija; Kotta, Jonne; Mandalakis, Manolis; Matijošytė, Inga; Mazur-Marzec, Hanna; Massa-Gallucci, Alexia; Mehiri, Mohamed; Nielsen, Søren Laurentius; Novoveská, Lucie; Overlingė, Donata; Portman, Michelle E.; Pyrc, Krzysztof; Rebours, Céline; Reinsch, Thorsten; Reyes, Fernando; Rinkevich, Baruch; Robbens, Johan; Rudovica, Vita; Sabotič, Jerica; Safarik, Ivo; Talve, Siret; Tasdemir, Deniz; Schneider, Xenia Theodotou; Thomas, Olivier P.; Toruńska-Sitarz, Anna; Varese, Giovanna Cristina; Vasquez, Marlen I.Marine organisms produce a vast diversity of metabolites with biological activities useful for humans, e.g., cytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-microbial, insecticidal, herbicidal, anticancer, pro-osteogenic and pro-regenerative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, cholesterol-lowering, nutritional, photoprotective, horticultural or other beneficial properties. These metabolites could help satisfy the increasing demand for alternative sources of nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals, food, feed, and novel bio-based products. In addition, marine biomass itself can serve as the source material for the production of various bulk commodities (e.g., biofuels, bioplastics, biomaterials). The sustainable exploitation of marine bio-resources and the development of biomolecules and polymers are also known as the growing field of marine biotechnology. Up to now, over 35,000 natural products have been characterized from marine organisms, but many more are yet to be uncovered, as the vast diversity of biota in the marine systems remains largely unexplored. Since marine biotechnology is still in its infancy, there is a need to create effective, operational, inclusive, sustainable, transnational and transdisciplinary networks with a serious and ambitious commitment for knowledge transfer, training provision, dissemination of best practices and identification of the emerging technological trends through science communication activities. A collaborative (net)work is today compelling to provide innovative solutions and products that can be commercialized to contribute to the circular bioeconomy. This perspective article highlights the importance of establishing such collaborative frameworks using the example of Ocean4Biotech, an Action within the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) that connects all and any stakeholders with an interest in marine biotechnology in Europe and beyond.
- The essentials of Marine BiotechnologyPublication . Rotter, Ana; Barbier, Michéle; Bertoni, Francesco; Bones, Atle M.; Cancela, M. Leonor; Carlsson, Jens; Carvalho, Maria F.; Cegłowska, Marta; Chirivella-Martorell, Jerónimo; Conk Dalay, Meltem; Cueto, Mercedes; Dailianis, Thanos; Deniz, Irem; Díaz-Marrero, Ana R.; Drakulovic, Dragana; Dubnika, Arita; Edwards, Christine; Einarsson, Hjörleifur; Erdoǧan, Ayşegül; Eroldoǧan, Orhan Tufan; Ezra, David; Fazi, Stefano; FitzGerald, Richard J.; Gargan, Laura M.; Gaudêncio, Susana P.; Gligora Udovič, Marija; Ivošević DeNardis, Nadica; Jónsdóttir, Rósa; Kataržytė, Marija; Klun, Katja; Kotta, Jonne; Ktari, Leila; Ljubešić, Zrinka; Lukić Bilela, Lada; Mandalakis, Manolis; Massa-Gallucci, Alexia; Matijošytė, Inga; Mazur-Marzec, Hanna; Mehiri, Mohamed; Nielsen, Søren Laurentius; Novoveská, Lucie; Overlingė, Donata; Perale, Giuseppe; Ramasamy, Praveen; Rebours, Céline; Reinsch, Thorsten; Reyes, Fernando; Rinkevich, Baruch; Robbens, Johan; Röttinger, Eric; Rudovica, Vita; Sabotič, Jerica; Safarik, Ivo; Talve, Siret; Tasdemir, Deniz; Theodotou Schneider, Xenia; Thomas, Olivier P.; Toruńska-Sitarz, Anna; Varese, Giovanna Cristina; Vasquez, Marlen I.Coastal countries have traditionally relied on the existing marine resources (e.g., fishing, food, transport, recreation, and tourism) as well as tried to support new economic endeavors (ocean energy, desalination for water supply, and seabed mining). Modern societies and lifestyle resulted in an increased demand for dietary diversity, better health and well-being, new biomedicines, natural cosmeceuticals, environmental conservation, and sustainable energy sources. These societal needs stimulated the interest of researchers on the diverse and underexplored marine environments as promising and sustainable sources of biomolecules and biomass, and they are addressed by the emerging field of marine (blue) biotechnology. Blue biotechnology provides opportunities for a wide range of initiatives of commercial interest for the pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetic, nutraceutical, food, feed, agricultural, and related industries. This article synthesizes the essence, opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges encountered in marine biotechnology and outlines the attainment and valorization of directly derived or bio-inspired products from marine organisms. First, the concept of bioeconomy is introduced. Then, the diversity of marine bioresources including an overview of the most prominent marine organisms and their potential for biotechnological uses are described. This is followed by introducing methodologies for exploration of these resources and the main use case scenarios in energy, food and feed, agronomy, bioremediation and climate change, cosmeceuticals, bio-inspired materials, healthcare, and well-being sectors. The key aspects in the fields of legislation and funding are provided, with the emphasis on the importance of communication and stakeholder engagement at all levels of biotechnology development. Finally, vital overarching concepts, such as the quadruple helix and Responsible Research and Innovation principle are highlighted as important to follow within the marine biotechnology field. The authors of this review are collaborating under the European Commission-funded Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action Ocean4Biotech – European transdisciplinary networking platform for marine biotechnology and focus the study on the European state of affairs.