Centre for Functional Ecology - Science for People & the Planet

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The unidentified skeletal collection of Capuchos cemetery (Santarém) housed at the University of Coimbra

Publication . José, Andreia; Tomé, Laura; Coelho, Catarina; Cunha, Eugénia; Umbelino, Cláudia; Ferreira, Maria Teresa

The aim of this article is to present to the scientific and academic community a new osteological collection housed at the Department of Life Sciences from the University of Coimbra (Portugal), the Unidentified Skeletal Collection of the Capuchos Cemetery. The skeletons were collected from the same cemetery as those of the 21st Century Identified Skeletal Collection, however their identity is unknown. The collection is comprised of 73 individuals, of which 68 are adults of both sexes (34 females, 33 males, and one individual of unknown sex) and five are non-adult individuals. It is estimated that the majority of adult individuals have a European ancestry.

2021Journal article

Open access

Habitat suitability of two flagship species, hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus, in the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula - implications for conservation

Publication . Peiffer, Friederike; Lima, André Ricardo Araujo; Henriques, Sofia; Pardal, Miguel A.; Martinho, Filipe; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Correia, Miguel; Silva, Gonçalo Jorge Franco

Anthropogenic pressures on marine ecosystems are increasing worldwide, causing loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and driving species towards risk of extinction. To protect vulnerable species and habitats, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly established worldwide as conservation measures. Seahorses act as flagship species for coastal ecosystem conservation due to their charismatic appearance and high vulnerability to habitat degradation. Here, the habitat suitability of the two European seahorse species, Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus, was assessed along the western Iberian Peninsula, using an ensemble species distribution modelling approach. Furthermore, the coverage of their core habitat (relative habitat suitability (HS) ≥ 0.5) with MPAs was estimated. The results show that the main drivers for habitat suitability were distance to the coast, aspect of the seafloor, tidal amplitude, and temperature. However, the importance differed between the two species. The suitable habitat of H. hippocampus extended to higher distances to the coast, while H. guttulatus were mostly restricted to areas in the vicinity of the coast and facing away from the open sea (i.e., the westerly aspect of the seafloor). Furthermore, temperature contributes more to the variation in habitat suitability in H. hippocampus than in H. guttulatus. The areas with the highest habitat suitability are estuarine or inlet waters and sheltered coasts in northwestern Spain, central and south of Portugal. Both species’ core habitats are covered by about 19–20 % with implemented protected areas in Portugal. In comparison, there is less coverage for both species in Spain, with 12 % for H. guttulatus and 6 % for H. hippocampus. Besides, zones of full protection cover less than 0.5 % of the core habitat while the rest of the protected areas provide only moderate to low restrictions and do not specifically address the protection of seahorses in their management plans. The results provide useful information on the distribution and the different habitat preferences of the two species, indications for further monitoring of populations, and recommendations for efficient spatial conservation areas that can protect the species and other associated vulnerable species and habitats.

2024-09Journal article

Open access

High-density SNP panel provides little evidence for population structure in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in waters surrounding the UK

Publication . Taylor, Martin I.; Lamb, Philip D.; Coscia, Ilaria; Murray, David S.; Brown, Mary; Cameron, Tom C.; Davison, Phil I.; Freeman, Howard A.; Georgiou, Katerina; Grati, Fabio; Haugen, Thrond; Karachle, Paraskevi K.; Kennedy, Richard; Lanssens, Thomas; Lincoln, Harriet; Martinho, Filipe; McCarthy, Ian; Petroutsos, Spyros-Iasonas; Pita, Pablo; Pontes, João; Baucells, Marta P.; Rangel, Mafalda; Roche, William; Sbragaglia, Valerio; Sturrock, Anna M; Taylor, Michelle L; Wogerbauer, Ciara; Veiga, Pedro; Verver, Sieto; Weltersbach, Marc Simon; Hyder, Kieran; Stewart W Grant

The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a commercially and recreationally important fish widely, distributed across the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Two distinct lineages that represent the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions have been previously identified, with a hybrid zone close to the Almeria-Oran front. The presence of fine-scale population structure within the Northeast Atlantic region is less clear. Here, we investigated population structure in adult samples obtained from the northern part of the Atlantic range surrounding the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Norway, along with outgroups from Portugal and the Mediterranean, using a panel of 41 K single nucleotide polymorphism markers. Population structure among Northeast Atlantic Ocean samples was weak in both spawning-(FST = 0.00022) and feeding-(FST = 0.00032) season data sets, with small pairwise FST values between sample pairs. However, average FST was larger between spawning samples than between feeding samples, with a pattern of isolation-by-distance among the spawning samples, but not the feeding samples, suggesting some biologically meaningful population structure. The largest pairwise FST values at both International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) rectangle and division scales involved a sample from the west of Ireland. We found no evidence of a gradient in "Mediterranean" ancestry among samples collected around the UK in our data set or in a reanalysis of a published data set where such a pattern had been previously identified. In summary, there was no evidence that sea bass in different ICES divisions within the Northeast Atlantic Ocean represents genetically separate populations. Further work is required to reconcile evidence from tagging and modelling studies that suggest the potential for demographic independence with the genetic data.

2025-05-01Journal article

Open access

Projected climate change and limited dispersal potential threaten the seahorse species Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus

Publication . Peiffer, Friederike; Assis, Jorge; Lima, André R. A.; Henriques, Sofia; Pardal, Miguel A.; Martinho, Filipe; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Correia, Miguel; Silva, Gonçalo J. F.

Climate change is predicted to drive species redistribution, altering the composition of marine communities and affecting ecosystem functioning. There is increasing evidence that fish distributions follow a trend of poleward expansion, while realised niches often decrease in range size. This study aimed to assess the influence of oceanographic connectivity and intrinsic dispersal mechanisms on changes in suitable habitats of the European seahorses (Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus guttulatus) from the present (2010–2020) until the end of the century (2090–2100). Habitat suitability was assessed using Ensemble Species Distribution Modelling under two Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSP2 and SSP5) coupled with biophysical modelling to estimate oceanographic connectivity. The results show that intrinsic dispersal mechanisms and oceanographic connectivity limit the northward range expansion, while predicted habitat loss remained constant in all dispersal scenarios, with the highest habitat loss forecasted in the Mediterranean and northern Africa. Consequently, considering restricted dispersal, H. guttulatus was projected to experience a negative range change (or habitat contraction [-45% (SSP5)] as opposed to an expansion with unlimited dispersal (standard model) [+ 6% (SSP5)]. On the other hand, for H. hippocampus, a more limited range expansion [+ 8% (SSP5)] was forecasted compared to the standard model [+ 17% (SSP5)]. In addition, the lower emission scenario (SSP2) resulted in half of the habitat losses, while maintaining climate refugia for H. guttulatus populations in the north Mediterranean, Iberian Atlantic Coast, and Black Sea. This study highlights the importance of considering dispersal abilities when assessing climate change impacts on marine species distribution.

2025-08-21Journal article

Open access