By 2100, we could be heading towards a loss of life in our oceans that rivals some of the largest extinction events in Earth s history – if we don t continue to tackle the climate catastrophe, new modeling warns.
No major changes in cod DNA from long-term fishing pressure
Cod have been fished for a thousand years, both along the Norwegian coast and off Newfoundland, but industrial fishing really took off after the Second World War. Photo: Kjartan Mæstad / Institute of Marine Research
Samples of Atlantic cod fished in Mortsund, Lofoten in 1907 have provided researchers with new clues about the population s development since then. Photo: Runar Bjørkvik Mæland / Institute of Marine Research
Researchers derived a full genome sequence from preserved cod scales and otholiths. Photo: Runar Bjørkvik Mæland / Institute of Marine Research
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Historical and contemporary samples of Norwegian and Canadian cod show that the fish’s genome has remained stable over time.
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Atlantic cod habitat includes both sides of the north Atlantic Ocean and beyond. (Image: NOAA)
Overfishing likely did not cause the Atlantic cod, an iconic species, to evolve genetically and mature earlier, according to a study led by Rutgers University and the University of Oslo – the first of its kind – with major implications for ocean conservation. Evolution has been used in part as an excuse for why cod and other species have not recovered from overfishing, said first author Malin L. Pinsky, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. Our findings suggest instead that more attention to reducing fishing and addressing other environmental changes, including climate change, will be important for allowing recovery. We can t use evolution as a scapegoat for avoiding the hard work that would allow cod to recover.
Credit: Sarah Gignoux-Wolfsohn
Scientists have found genetic differences between bats killed by white-nose syndrome and bats that survived, suggesting that survivors rapidly evolve to resist the fungal disease, according to a Rutgers-led study with big implications for deciding how to safeguard bat populations.
White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats in North America since 2006, following its introduction from Europe. The syndrome, caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is arguably the most catastrophic wildlife disease in history. It has led to unprecedented declines in many North American bat species, including the little brown bat (
Myotis lucifugus). Our finding that little brown bat populations have evolved, which could be why they survived, has large implications for management of bat populations going forward, said lead author Sarah Gignoux-Wolfsohn, a former postdoctoral associate at Rutgers University-New Brunswick now at the Smithsonian En
Credit: Katrina A. Catalano
How the larvae of colorful clownfish that live among coral reefs in the Philippines are dispersed varies widely, depending on the year and seasons - a Rutgers-led finding that could help scientists improve conservation of species.
Right after most coral reef fish hatch, they join a swirling sea of plankton as tiny, transparent larvae. Then currents, winds and waves disperse them, frequently to different reefs.
During seven years of surveys of coral reef-dwelling clownfish, scientists measured how the dispersal of larvae varied over the years and seasonally, including during monsoons, according to Rutgers-led research in the journal