ALBERT

Description: Exposure to volcanic ash is a long-standing health concern for people living near active volcanoes and in distal urban areas. During transport and deposition, ash is subjected to various physicochemical processes that may change its surface composition and, consequently, bioreactivity. One such process is the interaction with anthropogenic pollutants; however, the potential for adsorbed, deleterious organic compounds to directly impact human health is unknown. We use an in vitro bioanalytical approach to screen for the presence of organic compounds of toxicological concern on ash surfaces and assess their biological potency. These compounds include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated dibenzop- dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dlPCBs). Analysis of ash collected in or near urbanised areas at five active volcanoes across the world (Etna, Italy; Fuego, Guatemala; Kelud, Indonesia; Sakurajima, Japan; Tungurahua, Ecuador) using the bioassay inferred the presence of such compounds on all samples. A relatively low response to PCDD/Fs and the absence of a dlPCBs response in the bioassay suggest that the measured activity is dominated by PAHs and PAH-like compounds. This study is the first to demonstrate a biological potency of organic pollutants associated with volcanic ash particles. According to our estimations, they are present in quantities below recommended exposure limits and likely pose a low direct concern for human health.

Description: Published

Description: 30

Description: 7SR AMBIENTE – Servizi e ricerca per la società

Description: JCR Journal

Description: © The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Staudinger, M. D., Goyert, H., Suca, J. J., Coleman, K., Welch, L., Llopiz, J. K., Wiley, D., Altman, I., Applegate, A., Auster, P., Baumann, H., Beaty, J., Boelke, D., Kaufman, L., Loring, P., Moxley, J., Paton, S., Powers, K., Richardson, D., Robbins, J., Runge, J., Smith, B., Spiegel, C., & Steinmetz, H. The role of sand lances (Ammodytes sp.) in the Northwest Atlantic ecosystem: a synthesis of current knowledge with implications for conservation and management. Fish and Fisheries, 00, (2020): 1-34, doi:10.1111/faf.12445.

Description: The American sand lance (Ammodytes americanus, Ammodytidae) and the Northern sand lance (A. dubius, Ammodytidae) are small forage fishes that play an important functional role in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA). The NWA is a highly dynamic ecosystem currently facing increased risks from climate change, fishing and energy development. We need a better understanding of the biology, population dynamics and ecosystem role of Ammodytes to inform relevant management, climate adaptation and conservation efforts. To meet this need, we synthesized available data on the (a) life history, behaviour and distribution; (b) trophic ecology; (c) threats and vulnerabilities; and (d) ecosystem services role of Ammodytes in the NWA. Overall, 72 regional predators including 45 species of fishes, two squids, 16 seabirds and nine marine mammals were found to consume Ammodytes. Priority research needs identified during this effort include basic information on the patterns and drivers in abundance and distribution of Ammodytes, improved assessments of reproductive biology schedules and investigations of regional sensitivity and resilience to climate change, fishing and habitat disturbance. Food web studies are also needed to evaluate trophic linkages and to assess the consequences of inconsistent zooplankton prey and predator fields on energy flow within the NWA ecosystem. Synthesis results represent the first comprehensive assessment of Ammodytes in the NWA and are intended to inform new research and support regional ecosystem‐based management approaches.

Description: This manuscript is the result of follow‐up work stemming from a working group formed at a two‐day multidisciplinary and international workshop held at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts in May 2017, which convened 55 experts scientists, natural resource managers and conservation practitioners from 15 state, federal, academic and non‐governmental organizations with interest and expertise in Ammodytes ecology. Support for this effort was provided by USFWS, NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (Award # G16AC00237), an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to J.J.S., a CINAR Fellow Award to J.K.L. under Cooperative Agreement NA14OAR4320158, NSF award OCE‐1325451 to J.K.L., NSF award OCE‐1459087 to J.A.R, a Regional Sea Grant award to H.B. (RNE16‐CTHCE‐l), a National Marine Sanctuary Foundation award to P.J.A. (18‐08‐B‐196) and grants from the Mudge Foundation. The contents of this paper are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New England Fishery Management Council and Mid‐Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This manuscript is submitted for publication with the understanding that the United States Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes. Any use of trade, firm or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Description: © The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hand, K., Phillips, C., Murray, A., Garvin, J., Maize, E., Gibbs, R., Reeves, G., San Martin, A., Tan-Wang, G., Krajewski, J., Hurst, K., Crum, R., Kennedy, B., McElrath, T., Gallon, J., Sabahi, D., Thurman, S., Goldstein, B., Estabrook, P., Lee, S. W., Dooley, J. A., Brinckerhoff, W. B., Edgett, K. S., German, C. R., Hoehler, T. M., Hörst, S. M., Lunine, J. I., Paranicas, C., Nealson, K., Smith, D. E., Templeton, A. S., Russell, M. J., Schmidt, B., Christner, B., Ehlmann, B., Hayes, A., Rhoden, A., Willis, P., Yingst, R. A., Craft, K., Cameron, M. E., Nordheim, T., Pitesky, J., Scully, J., Hofgartner, J., Sell, S. W., Barltrop, K. J., Izraelevitz, J., Brandon, E. J., Seong, J., Jones, J.-P., Pasalic, J., Billings, K. J., Ruiz, J. P., Bugga, R. V., Graham, D., Arenas, L. A., Takeyama, D., Drummond, M., Aghazarian, H., Andersen, A. J., Andersen, K. B., Anderson, E. W., Babuscia, A., Backes, P. G., Bailey, E. S., Balentine, D., Ballard, C. G., Berisford, D. F., Bhandari, P., Blackwood, K., Bolotin, G. S., Bovre, E. A., Bowkett, J., Boykins, K. T., Bramble, M. S., Brice, T. M., Briggs, P., Brinkman, A. P., Brooks, S. M., Buffington, B. B., Burns, B., Cable, M. L., Campagnola, S., Cangahuala, L. A., Carr, G. A., Casani, J. R., Chahat, N. E., Chamberlain-Simon, B. K., Cheng, Y., Chien, S. A., Cook, B. T., Cooper, M., DiNicola, M., Clement, B., Dean, Z., Cullimore, E. A., Curtis, A. G., Croix, J-P. de la, Pasquale, P. Di, Dodd, E. M., Dubord, L. A., Edlund, J. A., Ellyin, R., Emanuel, B., Foster, J. T., Ganino, A. J., Garner, G. J., Gibson, M. T., Gildner, M., Glazebrook, K. J., Greco, M. E., Green, W. M., Hatch, S. J., Hetzel, M. M., Hoey, W. A., Hofmann, A. E., Ionasescu, R., Jain, A., Jasper, J. D., Johannesen, J. R., Johnson, G. K., Jun, I., Katake, A. B., Kim-Castet, S. Y., Kim, D. I., Kim, W., Klonicki, E. F., Kobeissi, B., Kobie, B. D., Kochocki, J., Kokorowski, M., Kosberg, J. A., Kriechbaum, K., Kulkarni, T. P., Lam, R. L., Landau, D. F., Lattimore, M. A., Laubach, S. L., Lawler, C. R., Lim, G., Lin, J. Y., Litwin, T. E., Lo, M. W., Logan, C. A., Maghasoudi, E., Mandrake, L., Marchetti, Y., Marteau, E., Maxwell, K. A., Namee, J. B. Mc, Mcintyre, O., Meacham, M., Melko, J. P., Mueller, J., Muliere, D. A., Mysore, A., Nash, J., Ono, H., Parker, J. M., Perkins, R. C., Petropoulos, A. E., Gaut, A., Gomez, M. Y. Piette, Casillas, R. P., Preudhomme, M., Pyrzak, G., Rapinchuk, J., Ratliff, J. M., Ray, T. L., Roberts, E. T., Roffo, K., Roth, D. C., Russino, J. A., Schmidt, T. M., Schoppers, M. J., Senent, J. S., Serricchio, F., Sheldon, D. J., Shiraishi, L. R., Shirvanian, J., Siegel, K. J., Singh, G., Sirota, A. R., Skulsky, E. D., Stehly, J. S., Strange, N. J., Stevens, S. U., Sunada, E. T., Tepsuporn, S. P., Tosi, L. P. C., Trawny, N., Uchenik, I., Verma, V., Volpe, R. A., Wagner, C. T., Wang, D., Willson, R. G., Wolff, J. L., Wong, A. T., Zimmer, A. K., Sukhatme, K. G., Bago, K. A., Chen, Y., Deardorff, A. M., Kuch, R. S., Lim, C., Syvertson, M. L., Arakaki, G. A., Avila, A., DeBruin, K. J., Frick, A., Harris, J. R., Heverly, M. C., Kawata, J. M., Kim, S.-K., Kipp, D. M., Murphy, J., Smith, M. W., Spaulding, M. D., Thakker, R., Warner, N. Z., Yahnker, C. R., Young, M. E., Magner, T., Adams, D., Bedini, P., Mehr, L., Sheldon, C., Vernon, S., Bailey, V., Briere, M., Butler, M., Davis, A., Ensor, S., Gannon, M., Haapala-Chalk, A., Hartka, T., Holdridge, M., Hong, A., Hunt, J., Iskow, J., Kahler, F., Murray, K., Napolillo, D., Norkus, M., Pfisterer, R., Porter, J., Roth, D., Schwartz, P., Wolfarth, L., Cardiff, E. H., Davis, A., Grob, E. W., Adam, J. R., Betts, E., Norwood, J., Heller, M. M., Voskuilen, T., Sakievich, P., Gray, L., Hansen, D. J., Irick, K. W., Hewson, J. C., Lamb, J., Stacy, S. C., Brotherton, C. M., Tappan, A. S., Benally, D., Thigpen, H., Ortiz, E., Sandoval, D., Ison, A. M., Warren, M., Stromberg, P. G., Thelen, P. M., Blasy, B., Nandy, P., Haddad, A. W., Trujillo, L. B., Wiseley, T. H., Bell, S. A., Teske, N. P., Post, C., Torres-Castro, L., Grosso, C. Wasiolek, M. Science goals and mission architecture of the Europa Lander mission concept. The Planetary Science Journal, 3(1), (2022): 22, https://doi.org/10.3847/psj/ac4493.

Description: Europa is a premier target for advancing both planetary science and astrobiology, as well as for opening a new window into the burgeoning field of comparative oceanography. The potentially habitable subsurface ocean of Europa may harbor life, and the globally young and comparatively thin ice shell of Europa may contain biosignatures that are readily accessible to a surface lander. Europa's icy shell also offers the opportunity to study tectonics and geologic cycles across a range of mechanisms and compositions. Here we detail the goals and mission architecture of the Europa Lander mission concept, as developed from 2015 through 2020. The science was developed by the 2016 Europa Lander Science Definition Team (SDT), and the mission architecture was developed by the preproject engineering team, in close collaboration with the SDT. In 2017 and 2018, the mission concept passed its mission concept review and delta-mission concept review, respectively. Since that time, the preproject has been advancing the technologies, and developing the hardware and software, needed to retire risks associated with technology, science, cost, and schedule.

Description: K.P.H., C.B.P., E.M., and all authors affiliated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory carried out this research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant No. 80NM0018D0004). J.I.L. was the David Baltimore Distinguished Visiting Scientist during the preparation of the SDT report. JPL/Caltech2021.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Suca, J. J., Wiley, D. N., Silva, T. L., Robuck, A. R., Richardson, D. E., Glancy, S. G., Clancey, E., Giandonato, T., Solow, A. R., Thompson, M. A., Hong, P., Baumann, H., Kaufman, L., & Llopiz, J. K. Sensitivity of sand lance to shifting prey and hydrography indicates forthcoming change to the northeast US shelf forage fish complex. Ices Journal of Marine Science, 78(3), (2021): 1023–1037, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaa251.

Description: Northern sand lance (Ammodytes dubius) and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) represent the dominant lipid-rich forage fish species throughout the Northeast US shelf and are critical prey for numerous top predators. However, unlike Atlantic herring, there is little research on sand lance or information about drivers of their abundance. We use intra-annual measurements of sand lance diet, growth, and condition to explain annual variability in sand lance abundance on the Northeast US Shelf. Our observations indicate that northern sand lance feed, grow, and accumulate lipids in the late winter through summer, predominantly consuming the copepod Calanus finmarchicus. Sand lance then cease feeding, utilize lipids, and begin gonad development in the fall. We show that the abundance of C. finmarchicus influences sand lance parental condition and recruitment. Atlantic herring can mute this effect through intra-guild predation. Hydrography further impacts sand lance abundance as increases in warm slope water decrease overwinter survival of reproductive adults. The predicted changes to these drivers indicate that sand lance will no longer be able to fill the role of lipid-rich forage during times of low Atlantic herring abundance—changing the Northeast US shelf forage fish complex by the end of the century.

Description: Research was funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (IA agreement M17PG0019; DNW, LK, HB, and JKL), including a subaward via the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (18-11-B-203). Additional support came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Woods Hole Sea Grant Program (NA18OAR4170104, Project No. R/O-57; JKL, HB, and DNW) and a National Science Foundation Long-term Ecological Research grant for the Northeast US Shelf Ecosystem (OCE 1655686; JKL). JJS was funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship programme. ARR was funded by an NOAA Nancy Foster Scholarship.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Özpolat, B. D., Randel, N., Williams, E. A., Bezares-Calderón, L. A., Andreatta, G., Balavoine, G., Bertucci, P. Y., Ferrier, D. E. K., Gambi, M. C., Gazave, E., Handberg-Thorsager, M., Hardege, J., Hird, C., Hsieh, Y.-W., Hui, J., Mutemi, K. N., Schneider, S. Q., Simakov, O., Vergara, H. M., Jékely, G., Tessmar-Raible, K., Raible, F., Arendt, D. The Nereid on the rise: Platynereis as a model system. EvoDevo, 12(1), (2021): 10, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13227-021-00180-3.

Description: The Nereid Platynereis dumerilii (Audouin and Milne Edwards (Annales des Sciences Naturelles 1:195–269, 1833) is a marine annelid that belongs to the Nereididae, a family of errant polychaete worms. The Nereid shows a pelago-benthic life cycle: as a general characteristic for the superphylum of Lophotrochozoa/Spiralia, it has spirally cleaving embryos developing into swimming trochophore larvae. The larvae then metamorphose into benthic worms living in self-spun tubes on macroalgae. Platynereis is used as a model for genetics, regeneration, reproduction biology, development, evolution, chronobiology, neurobiology, ecology, ecotoxicology, and most recently also for connectomics and single-cell genomics. Research on the Nereid started with studies on eye development and spiralian embryogenesis in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Transitioning into the molecular era, Platynereis research focused on posterior growth and regeneration, neuroendocrinology, circadian and lunar cycles, fertilization, and oocyte maturation. Other work covered segmentation, photoreceptors and other sensory cells, nephridia, and population dynamics. Most recently, the unique advantages of the Nereid young worm for whole-body volume electron microscopy and single-cell sequencing became apparent, enabling the tracing of all neurons in its rope-ladder-like central nervous system, and the construction of multimodal cellular atlases. Here, we provide an overview of current topics and methodologies for P. dumerilii, with the aim of stimulating further interest into our unique model and expanding the active and vibrant Platynereis community.

Description: Funding resources are shown after author initials. EAW: BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship BB/T00990X/1. BDÖ: NIH NIGMS MIRA 1R35GM138008-01; NSF-EDGE Award no 1923429; Hibbitt Startup Funds. GJ, LABC, CH: Wellcome Trust Investigator Award 214337/Z/18/Z. KNM: Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 766053, project EvoCELL. NR: European Union Horizon 2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant No 838225. MCG: Stazione Zoologica A. Dohrn (Napoli) and the Ischia Marine Center technical staff; Open University PhD programme; ASSEMBLE; PON-MODO project (Campania Region, Italy), RITMARE - Flag project, Italy; MARES Consortium. Thanks to the ECCSEL - NatLab Italy facilities, managed by the OGS (Trieste), to support collection at Panarea and Vulcano islands. JDH: NERC award NE/T001577/1. MHT: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Grant Number TO563/7-1. EG and MV: Labex ‘Who Am I?’ (No. ANR-11-LABX-0071) funded by the French Government through its ‘Investments for the Future’ program operated by the ANR under Grant No. ANR-11-IDEX-0005-01, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (DBM Grant), Université de Paris (IDEX Emergence grant 2020), Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Grant TELOBLAST no. ANR-16-CE91-0007; Grant STEM No. ANR-19-CE27-0027-02), the «Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer» (Grant PJA 20191209482), and the «Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer» (Grant RS20/75-20). SQS: NSF (US) Award IOS-1455185, MOST (TW) 108-2311-B-001-002-MY3, Academia Sinica Career Development Award AS-CDA-110-L02, and the Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology (ICOB) of Academia Sinica (TW). YWH: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), grant number TO563/7-1 (to Pavel Tomancak). OS: Austrian Science Fund Grant P32190. GB: The Balavoine Lab was funded by the CNRS, the Université de Paris and grants from the ANR (TELOBLAST no. ANR-16-CE91-0007) and from the ARC (PJA 20181208248). FR and KTR: The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC Grant Agreement 260304 (F.R.) and ERC Grant Agreement 337011 (K.T.-R.); the Horizon 2020 Programme ERC Grant Agreement 81995 (K.T.-R.); the research platforms ‘Rhythms of Life’ (K.T.-R., F.R.) and “Single-cell genomics of stem cells” (F.R.) of the University of Vienna; the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) START award, project Y413 (K.T.-R.); the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) projects P28970 (K.T.-R.) and I2972 (F.R.); the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) grant F78 (K.T.-R., F.R.). DA and PB ERC Advanced grant NeuralCellTypeEvo #788921.

Description: © The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Bucklin, A., Batta-Lona, P., Questel, J., Wiebe, P., Richardson, D., Copley, N., & O’Brien, T. COI metabarcoding of zooplankton species diversity for time-series monitoring of the NW Atlantic continental shelf. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, (2022): 867893, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.867893.

Description: Marine zooplankton are rapid-responders and useful indicators of environmental variability and climate change impacts on pelagic ecosystems on time scales ranging from seasons to years to decades. The systematic complexity and taxonomic diversity of the zooplankton assemblage has presented significant challenges for routine morphological (microscopic) identification of species in samples collected during ecosystem monitoring and fisheries management surveys. Metabarcoding using the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene region has shown promise for detecting and identifying species of some – but not all – taxonomic groups in samples of marine zooplankton. This study examined species diversity of zooplankton on the Northwest Atlantic Continental Shelf using 27 samples collected in 2002-2012 from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Mid-Atlantic Bight during Ecosystem Monitoring (EcoMon) Surveys by the NOAA NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center. COI metabarcodes were identified using the MetaZooGene Barcode Atlas and Database (https://metazoogene.org/MZGdb) specific to the North Atlantic Ocean. A total of 181 species across 23 taxonomic groups were detected, including a number of sibling and cryptic species that were not discriminated by morphological taxonomic analysis of EcoMon samples. In all, 67 species of 15 taxonomic groups had ≥ 50 COI sequences; 23 species had 〉1,000 COI sequences. Comparative analysis of molecular and morphological data showed significant correlations between COI sequence numbers and microscopic counts for 5 of 6 taxonomic groups and for 5 of 7 species with 〉1,000 COI sequences for which both types of data were available. Multivariate statistical analysis showed clustering of samples within each region based on both COI sequence numbers and EcoMon counts, although differences among the three regions were not statistically significant. The results demonstrate the power and potential of COI metabarcoding for identification of species of metazoan zooplankton in the context of ecosystem monitoring.

Description: This publication resulted in part from support provided by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR). Funds were also contributed by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant OCE-1840868) and by national SCOR committees.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hernandez, C. M., Richardson, D. E., Rypina, I. I., Chen, K., Marancik, K. E., Shulzitski, K., & Llopiz, J. K. Support for the Slope Sea as a major spawning ground for Atlantic bluefin tuna: evidence from larval abundance, growth rates, and particle-tracking simulations. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 79(5), (2021): 814-824, https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2020-0444.

Description: Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) are commercially and ecologically valuable, but management is complicated by their highly migratory lifestyle. Recent collections of bluefin tuna larvae in the Slope Sea off northeastern United States have opened questions about how this region contributes to population dynamics. We analyzed larvae collected in the Slope Sea and the Gulf of Mexico in 2016 to estimate larval abundance and growth rates and used a high-resolution regional ocean circulation model to estimate spawning locations and larval transport. We did not detect a regional difference in growth rates, but found that Slope Sea larvae were larger than Gulf of Mexico larvae prior to exogenous feeding. Slope Sea larvae generally backtracked to locations north of Cape Hatteras and would have been retained within the Slope Sea until the early juvenile stage. Overall, our results provide supporting evidence that the Slope Sea is a major spawning ground that is likely to be important for population dynamics. Further study of larvae and spawning adults in the region should be prioritized to support management decisions.

Description: Ship time was supported by NOAA, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the US Navy through interagency agreements for Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species (AMAPPS). CMH and JKL received funding from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Ocean Life Institute (#13080700) and Academic Programs Office. CMH was additionally supported by the Adelaide and Charles Link Foundation and the J. Seward Johnson Endowment in support of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Marine Policy Center. IIR, KC, and JKL were supported by a US National Science Foundation (NSF) grant (OCE-1558806). JKL was additionally supported by the Lenfest Fund for Early Career Scientists and the Early Career Scientist Fund at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Description: © The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Suca, J. J., Deroba, J. J., Richardson, D. E., Ji, R., & Llopiz, J. K. Environmental drivers and trends in forage fish occupancy of the Northeast US shelf. Ices Journal of Marine Science, 78(10), (2021): 3687–3708, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsab214.

Description: The Northeast US shelf ecosystem is undergoing unprecedented changes due to long-term warming trends and shifts in regional hydrography leading to changes in community composition. However, it remains uncertain how shelf occupancy by the region's dominant, offshore small pelagic fishes, also known as forage fishes, has changed throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Here, we use species distribution models to estimate the change in shelf occupancy, mean weighted latitude, and mean weighted depth of six forage fishes on the Northeast US shelf, and whether those trends were linked to coincident hydrographic conditions. Our results suggest that observed shelf occupancy is increasing or unchanging for most species in both spring and fall, linked both to gear shifts and increasing bottom temperature and salinity. Exceptions include decreases to observed shelf occupancy by sand lance and decreases to Atlantic herring's inferred habitat suitability in the fall. Our work shows that changes in shelf occupancy and inferred habitat suitability have varying coherence, indicating complex mechanisms behind observed shelf occupancy for many species. Future work and management can use these results to better isolate the aspects of forage fish life histories that are important for determining their occupancy of the Northeast US shelf.

Description: Funding came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Woods Hole Sea Grant Program (NA18OAR4170104, Project number R/O-57; RJ and JKL) and a National Science Foundation Long-term Ecological Research grant for the Northeast US Shelf Ecosystem (OCE1655686; RJ and JKL). JJS was funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship program.