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  • Lunar cycle effects on pelagic predators and fisheries: insights into tuna, billfish, sharks, and rays REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES Andrzejaczek, S., Digiacomo, A. E., Mikles, C. S., Pagniello, C. S., Reimer, T. E. J., Block, B. A. 2024

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s11160-024-09914-7

    View details for Web of Science ID 001380444900001

  • Manipulation of the seagrass-associated microbiome reduces disease severity ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY Graham, O. J., Adamczyk, E. M., Schenk, S., Dawkins, P., Burke, S., Chei, E., Cisz, K., Dayal, S., Elstner, J., Hausner, A., Hughes, T., Manglani, O., McDonald, M., Mikles, C., Poslednik, A., Vinton, A., Wegener Parfrey, L., Harvell, C. 2024: e16582

    Abstract

    Host-associated microbes influence host health and function and can be a first line of defence against infections. While research increasingly shows that terrestrial plant microbiomes contribute to bacterial, fungal, and oomycete disease resistance, no comparable experimental work has investigated marine plant microbiomes or more diverse disease agents. We test the hypothesis that the eelgrass (Zostera marina) leaf microbiome increases resistance to seagrass wasting disease. From field eelgrass with paired diseased and asymptomatic tissue, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed that bacterial composition and richness varied markedly between diseased and asymptomatic tissue in one of the two years. This suggests that the influence of disease on eelgrass microbial communities may vary with environmental conditions. We next experimentally reduced the eelgrass microbiome with antibiotics and bleach, then inoculated plants with Labyrinthula zosterae, the causative agent of wasting disease. We detected significantly higher disease severity in eelgrass with a native microbiome than an experimentally reduced microbiome. Our results over multiple experiments do not support a protective role of the eelgrass microbiome against L. zosterae. Further studies of these marine host-microbe-pathogen relationships may continue to show new relationships between plant microbiomes and diseases.

    View details for DOI 10.1111/1462-2920.16582

    View details for Web of Science ID 001138461400001

    View details for PubMedID 38195072

  • Impacts of marine heatwaves on top predator distributions are variable but predictable. Nature communications Welch, H., Savoca, M. S., Brodie, S., Jacox, M. G., Muhling, B. A., Clay, T. A., Cimino, M. A., Benson, S. R., Block, B. A., Conners, M. G., Costa, D. P., Jordan, F. D., Leising, A. W., Mikles, C. S., Palacios, D. M., Shaffer, S. A., Thorne, L. H., Watson, J. T., Holser, R. R., Dewitt, L., Bograd, S. J., Hazen, E. L. 2023; 14 (1): 5188

    Abstract

    Marine heatwaves cause widespread environmental, biological, and socio-economic impacts, placing them at the forefront of 21st-century management challenges. However, heatwaves vary in intensity and evolution, and a paucity of information on how this variability impacts marine species limits our ability to proactively manage for these extreme events. Here, we model the effects of four recent heatwaves (2014, 2015, 2019, 2020) in the Northeastern Pacific on the distributions of 14 top predator species of ecological, cultural, and commercial importance. Predicted responses were highly variable across species and heatwaves, ranging from near total loss of habitat to a two-fold increase. Heatwaves rapidly altered political bio-geographies, with up to 10% of predicted habitat across all species shifting jurisdictions during individual heatwaves. The variability in predicted responses across species and heatwaves portends the need for novel management solutions that can rapidly respond to extreme climate events. As proof-of-concept, we developed an operational dynamic ocean management tool that predicts predator distributions and responses to extreme conditions in near real-time.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-40849-y

    View details for PubMedID 37669922

    View details for PubMedCentralID 6329840

  • Evolutionary divergence and adaptive capacity in morphologically distinct song sparrow subspecies CONSERVATION GENETICS Mikles, C. S., Arcese, P., Lovette, I. J., Aguillon, S. M., Chan, Y. L., Benham, P. M., Carbeck, K., Walsh, J. 2023

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s10592-023-01547-w

    View details for Web of Science ID 001040198500001

  • Seasonal and diel habitat use of blue marlin Makaira nigricans in the North Atlantic Ocean ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE Andrzejaczek, S., Mikles, C. S., Dale, J. J., Castleton, M., Block, B. A. 2023

    View details for DOI 10.1093/icesjms/fsad020

    View details for Web of Science ID 000942749100001

  • Land-dependent marine species face climate-driven impacts on land and at sea MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES Blondin, H. E., Armstrong, K. C., Hazen, E. L., Oestreich, W. K., Santos, B. S., Haulsee, D. E., Mikles, C. S., Knight, C. J., Bennett, A. E., Crowder, L. B. 2022; 699: 181-198

    View details for DOI 10.3354/meps14174

    View details for Web of Science ID 000919294900012

  • Genomic differentiation and local adaptation on a microgeographic scale in a resident songbird MOLECULAR ECOLOGY Mikles, C. S., Aguillon, S. M., Chan, Y. L., Arcese, P., Benham, P. M., Lovette, I. J., Walsh, J. 2020; 29 (22): 4295-4307

    Abstract

    Elucidating forces capable of driving species diversification in the face of gene flow remains a key goal in evolutionary biology. Song sparrows, Melospiza melodia, occur as 25 subspecies in diverse habitats across North America, are among the continent's most widespread vertebrate species, and are exemplary of many highly variable species for which the conservation of locally adapted populations may be critical to their range-wide persistence. We focus here on six morphologically distinct subspecies resident in the San Francisco Bay region, including three salt-marsh endemics and three residents in upland and riparian habitats adjacent to the Bay. We used reduced-representation sequencing to generate 2,773 SNPs to explore genetic differentiation, spatial population structure, and demographic history. Clustering separated individuals from each of the six subspecies, indicating subtle differentiation at microgeographic scales. Evidence of limited gene flow and low nucleotide diversity across all six subspecies further supports a hypothesis of isolation among locally adapted populations. We suggest that natural selection for genotypes adapted to salt marsh environments and changes in demography over the past century have acted in concert to drive the patterns of diversification reported here. Our results offer evidence of microgeographic specialization in a highly polytypic bird species long discussed as a model of sympatric speciation and rapid adaptation, and they support the hypothesis that conserving locally adapted populations may be critical to the range-wide persistence of similarly highly variable species.

    View details for DOI 10.1111/mec.15647

    View details for Web of Science ID 000583207100001

    View details for PubMedID 32978972

  • Low discard survival of gray triggerfish in the southeastern US hook-and-line fishery FISHERIES RESEARCH Runde, B. J., Rudershausen, P. J., Sauls, B., Mikles, C. S., Buckel, J. A. 2019; 219

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.fishres.2019.105313

    View details for Web of Science ID 000488300900008

  • Examining the Severity of Roof-Hooking Injuries in Dolphinfish: a Comparison between Computed Tomography and Gross Necropsy NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT Mikles, C. S., Harms, C. A., Buckel, J. A., Rudershausen, P. J. 2019; 39 (1): 36-44

    View details for DOI 10.1002/nafm.10252

    View details for Web of Science ID 000459226900004

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4621-6862