ALBERT

Description: The Macapule Lagoon (25º 21' and 25º 24' N; 108º 30' and 108º 45' W) is part of the San Ignacio-Navachiste-Macapule lagoon system, located in the southern region of the Gulf of California (Fig. 1). In 2000, it has been declared an "Area of Reserve and Refuge for Migratory Birds and Wildlife – Gulf of California Islands". This lagoon is very productive due to its location in the Gulf of California (Lluch-Cota et al. 2007). Water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and salinity were measured in situ with an YSI (55-12FT) probe and a portable refractometer (RHS-10ATC). Nutrient (nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate) concentrations were determined in the laboratory during each sampling month using a photometer (YSI, 9500).

Description: In December 2013, June and December 2014, and July 2015, a total of 123 specimens of L. argentiventris were captured in the Macapule Lagoon with gillnets of 50 mm mesh size. The total length and weight of each specimen were recorded. The liver, stomach, and gutted weight were weighed to the nearest gram (g) and the data used to calculate the following morpho-physiological indices: 1) the Fulton's condition factor (CF) using the equation: CF = W~t~/L~t~3 * 100, where W~t~ = total weight and L~t~ = total length; 2) the hepatosomatic index (HSI) using the equation: HSI = W~h~/W~t~*100, where W~h~ = liver weight and W~t~ = total weight of the individual; and 3) the gastric repletion index (GRI) using the equation GRI = W~s~/W~t~ *100, where W~s~ = stomach weight and W~t~ = total weight. Parameters of the length-weight relationship of L. argentiventris were estimated using the equation: W = aL^b^, where W = weight of the fish (g), L = total length (cm), a = y-intercept or the initial growth coefficient, b = slope or the growth coefficient. Blood samples of 1±0.1 mL were extracted (only of fish larger than 10 cm total length) by caudal puncture with a disposable plastic syringe containing 0.5 mL of heparinized solution (Sigma-Aldrich). The blood samples were centrifuged at 9,500 g at 4ºC during 10 minutes to separate the blood cells from the plasma. Total protein concentrations were determined following Bradford's method (1976), which is based on the reaction of the amino groups with the dye Coomassie Blue G-250. Triglycerides, glucose, and cholesterol concentrations were determined with colorimetric commercial kits Randox, U.K (Apún-Molina et al., 2015);. Absorbance was determined with a microplate reader (Multiskan Go, Thermo Scientific UV, United States) and concentrations were calculated from a standard solution of substrates.

Description: High-throughput metabolic phenotyping is a challenge, but it provides an alternative and comprehensive access to the rapid and accurate characterization of plants. In addition to the technical issues of obtaining quantitative data of plenty of metabolic traits from numerous samples, a suitable data processing and statistical evaluation strategy must be developed. We present a simple, robust and highly scalable strategy for the comparison of multiple chemical profiles from coffee and tea leaf extracts, based on direct-injection electrospray mass spectrometry (DIESI-MS) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). More than 3500 individual Coffea canephora and Coffea arabica trees from experimental fields in Mexico were sampled and processed using this method. Our strategy permits the classification of trees according to their metabolic fingerprints and the screening for families with desired characteristics, such as extraordinarily high or low caffeine content in their leaves.

Description: Relict sand wedges are ubiquitous in southern Patagonia. At six sites we conducted detailed investigations of stratigraphy, soils, and wedge frequency and characteristics. Some sections contain four or more buried horizons with casts. The cryogenic features are dominantly relict sand wedges with an average depth, maximum apparent width, minimum apparent width, and H/W of 78, 39, 3.8, and 2.9 cm, respectively. The host materials are fine-textured (silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam) till and the infillings are aeolian sand. The soils are primarily Calciargidic Argixerolls that bear a legacy of climate change. Whereas the sand wedges formed during very cold (-4 to -8 °C or colder) and dry (ca. 〈=100 mm precipitation/yr) glacial periods, petrocalcic horizons from calcium carbonate contributed by dustfall formed during warmer (7 °C or warmer) and moister (〉= 250 mm/yr) interglacial periods. The paleo-argillic (Bt) horizons reflect unusually moist interglacial events where the mean annual precipitation may have been 400 mm/yr. Permafrost was nearly continuous in southern Patagonia during the Illinoian glacial stage (ca. 200 ka), the early to mid-Pleistocene (ca. 800-500 ka), and on two occasions during the early Pleistocene (ca. 1.0-1.1 Ma).

Description: Ocean Acidification (OA) has become one of the most studied global stressors in marine science during the last fifteen years. Despite the variety of studies on the biological effects of OA with marine commercial species, estimations of these impacts over consumers' preferences have not been studied in detail, compromising our ability to undertake an assessment of market and economic impacts resulting from OA at local scales. Here, we use a novel and interdisciplinary approach to fill this gap. We experimentally test the impact of OA on commercially relevant physical and nutritional attributes of mussels, and then we use economic discrete choice models to assess the marginal effects of these impacts over consumers' preferences and wellbeing. Results showed that attributes, which were significantly affected by OA, are also those preferred by consumers. Consumers are willing to pay on average 52% less for mussels with evidences of OA and are willing to increase the price they pay to avoid negative changes in attributes due to OA. The interdisciplinary approach developed here, complements research conducted on OA by effectively informing how OA economic impacts can be analyzed under the lens of marginal changes in market price and consumer' welfare. Thereby, linking global phenomena to consumers' wellbeing, and shifting the focus of OA impacts to assess the effects of local vulnerabilities in a wider context of people and businesses.