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In the pelagic food web of lakes, zooplankton offers the linkage between phytoplankton and fish, greatly affecting but also mirroring the functionality and stability of the ecosystem. Despite the increased interest on the development of water quality indices, incorporating zooplankton data on metrics used for the assessment of natural lakes remains a challenge. Here, we used information of natural lakes hosted in Eastern Mediterranean on zooplankton abundance, biomass, body weight and cladocerans' ratio to develop a novel zooplanktonic index (Zoo-IQ). Α 5-grade classification scheme was generated (Bad ≤6, 6 < Poor ≤10, 10 < Moderate ≤14, 14 < Good ≤18, 18 < High) for water quality assessment. The Zoo-IQ was originally parametrized based on data collected from 13 natural lakes, located in Greece and successfully classified hypertrophic lakes with poor quality and deep lakes with good quality, while it identified lakes subjected to restoration actions. Using independent data from five lakes hosted in Greece, Turkey and Croatia, Zoo-IQ successfully assessed their water quality. Specifically, from the 25 sampling cases, used for the development and the evaluation of the index, Zoo-IQ identified 5 as good, 8 as moderate, 11 as poor and 1 as bad. Our results demonstrate the potential of using Zoo-IQ for the assessment of lakes water quality in the Mediterranean. The proposed index could serve as a first step towards the development of similar indices in other climatic zones. [Display omitted] • Zoo-IQ the first zooplanktonic quality index for natural Mediterranean lakes. • Metrics of abundance, biomass, body weight and cladocerans' ratio. • Zoo-IQ was validated using independent data from Croatia, Greece and Turkey. • Zoo-IQ successfully assessed eutrophication and fish predation pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Nest incubation temperatures were higher for green turtles than for loggerhead turtles. • The nests in Cape Verde had higher temperatures than the ones in Greece. • Exceeding the nest temperature of 31 °C and 32 °C resulted in a reduction in hatching success. • Future warming incubation temperature of nests might pose a threat to sea turtles. Rising temperatures due to global warming over the last decades pose threats to marine biodiversity. Sea turtles are ectothermic species, and their embryonic development depends on nest conditions, particularly temperature. Here, we explore how increasing and extreme temperatures within the 558 nests can impact the hatching success of two sea turtle species, the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), at two tropical locations, Cape Verde and Australia, and at temperate nesting sites, Turkey and Greece. Mean nest temperatures were higher for green turtles (30.84 °C) than for loggerhead turtles (29.42 °C) and significantly increased in all locations as the air temperature increased. However, nests from temperate locations, such as green turtles in Turkey and loggerhead turtles in Cape Verde, experienced higher temperatures than the nests in Australia and Greece, reaching lethal temperatures at extreme temperature peaks. Thus, temperate populations might be at risk as global warming continues because it is uncertain whether these higher latitudes can provide beach habitats cool enough for successful sea turtle nesting given the projected more frequent extreme temperatures in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]