On marine rocky shores, macroalgal herbivory is often intense, such that the cascading effects of fish predation may contribute to the control of algal communities. To estimate the magnitudes of top–down and bottom–up control on a macroalgal community, we manipulated the access of carnivorous fish to macroalgal colonization substrates, as well as nutrient availability, at two sublittoral depths...

In this paper, we argue that the metaphor form of a comparison (i.e., a topic-vehicle pair) is preferred over, and more comprehensible than, the simile form when the interpretive diversity for that comparison is high. Interpretive diversity refers to the richness of the figurative meaning of a comparison; it is high to the extent that more features or properties are related to the figurative me...

Identifying causes of structural ecosystem shifts often requires understanding trophic structure, an important determinant of energy flow in ecological communities. In coastal pelagic ecosystems worldwide, increasing jellyfish (Cnidaria and Ctenophora) at the expense of small fish has been linked to anthropogenic alteration of basal trophic pathways. However, this hypothesis remains untested in...

BACKGROUND Studying diversity and distribution patterns of species along elevational gradients and understanding drivers behind these patterns is central to macroecology and conservation biology. A number of studies on biogeographic gradients are available for terrestrial ecosystems, but freshwater ecosystems remain largely neglected. In particular, we know very little about the species richnes...

While contaminants are predicted to have measurable impacts on fish assemblages, studies have rarely assessed this potential in the context of natural variability in physico-chemical conditions within and between estuaries. We investigated links between the distribution of sediment contamination (metals and PAHs), physico-chemical variables (pH, salinity, temperature, turbidity) and beach fish ...

Two theoretical models have been proposed to describe long-term dynamics of diversification: the equilibrium model considers the Earth as a closed system with a fixed maximum biological carrying capacity, whereas the expansion model hypothesizes a continuously increasing diversification of life. Based on the analysis of the fossil record of all organisms, Benton suggested contrasting models of ...

The method of staining bones is considered as one of the adopted means in studying the tissues and bones as well as the organs by which a comparison between fish species can be made as of Potthoff (Potthoff, 1984). The main objective of this study is to identify the tissue and skeleton differences between some species of fish which can enhance the taxonomic studies other than the taxonomic diff...