Search

Polynesian Languages and Culture (PLC) lessons in primary schools focus on, among other things, passing on Tahitian legends and linguistic content that is specific to the Polynesian languages ("Reo ma'ohi"). A co-analysis of the PLC teachers' culture of origin conducted with the teachers to identify the dimensions of their actual activity revealed a strong connivance between the teaching object and the teacher/pupils relationship (notably through gestures, postures and proxemics). This relationship was representative of the 'rapports de place' (relationships of place) found in particular in the non-school sphere. Respect for the roles and statuses of 'elders' and 'magisters', the importance of a commitment to learning, the valorisation of speaking up and the benevolence of encouraging pupils to persevere in their learning were all fundamental values of belonging in the Tahitian community. Beyond the Polynesian context, this research contributes to a conceptual enlargement of the theoretical field of 'didactique professionnelle' because it demonstrates that taking into account the influence of the context and its inherent values better identifies the resources that teachers implicitly draw on and that they refer or do not refer to in an interactive situation with learners.

The aim of this descriptive, qualitative study was to collect the representations and feelings concerning the use of digital technology in the education of teachers and educational consultants in two French overseas territories, French Polynesia and New Caledonia. As this is an exploratory study, we did not formulate hypotheses, but rather sought information regarding expectations regarding differences and trends in perceptions and practices according to (1) the territory, (2) the status and (3) the gender of the individuals interviewed. The results indicated that (1) social representations associated with digital technology are almost identical in the two territories, a similarity most likely linked to the influence of French educational directives on local policies regarding digital technology in schools; (2) the duties carried out by the interviewees seem to influence the representations and discourses: the teachers are concerned by the use of digital technology in the classroom versus the educational consultants by training issues; (3) the discourse appears to be gendered: the men's discourse is centred on digital tools, the women's discourse is centred on the pupil and the contribution of digital technology (difficulties and advantages).

When educating international special education teachers, teacher self-efficacy should be evaluated to better understand the effectiveness of training and the delivery of services to students with disabilities. Professionals in the field of disability services, from the United States, conducted a five-day seminar with special education teachers in Tahiti. Participants were self selected teachers from the islands of Tahiti. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the self-efficacy previous to and after the five-day seminar. Teachers self-efficacy was determined through self-reported surveys. Results proved that cross-cultural seminars are beneficial for increasing the self-efficacy, as well as the knowledge base of international teachers in Tahiti. In addition, findings add to a limited research base for education of international teachers as well as the data collected in French Polynesia.

Addressing the current gap in the literature regarding cultural festivals as a unique site of intergroup discourse, we invoke social identity and group vitality theories to explore the effect of attending an international cultural festival on members of different groups. A total of 143 participants at the 2016 Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam completed surveys and interviews concerning identity salience. Measures of ethnic identity and meta-identity salience both increased (and interacted) after participation in the Festival, and the region of origin also had moderating effects. Standard paradigms regarding single identity salience are discussed as well as future avenues for intercultural work.

Mangarevan traditionally contained two numeration systems: a general one, which was highly regular, decimal, and extraordinarily extensive; and a specific one, which was restricted to specific objects, based on diverging counting units, and interspersed with binary steps. While most of these characteristics are shared by numeration systems in related languages in Oceania, the binary steps are unique. To account for these characteristics, this article draws on--and tries to integrate--insights from anthropology, archeology, linguistics, psychology, and cognitive science more generally. The analysis of mental arithmetic with these systems reveals that both types of systems entailed cognitive advantages and served important functions in the cultural context of their application. How these findings speak to more general questions revolving around the theoretical models and evolutionary trajectory of numerical cognition will be discussed in the Conclusion.

Within the last two decades, there has been increased interest in how technology supports Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation efforts. This paper considers the effect technology has on Indigenous language learning and teaching, while conceptualizing how language educators, speakers, learners, and technology users holistically understand, skillfully apply and communicate creative and balanced technological solutions that are based on understanding of contextual factors. A total of 80 participants representing at least 47 Indigenous languages completed a survey in 2009 representing individuals, organizations, and institutions that serve one or more Indigenous language communities across the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Guatemala, Peru, Greenland, Mexico, Bolivia, French Polynesia (Marquesas Islands and Tuamotu Islands), and Russia. The data reveal the functions digital technology has in Indigenous language revitalization, which include (1) positive and supportive roles (2) concerns, constraints, and tensions, and (3) Indigenous language education. Regardless of the size of the community, opportunities for using technology in Indigenous language revitalization efforts are shaped by linguistic, cultural, social, economic, environmental, and technological factors as expressed in the technacy framework for language revitalization. Findings indicate that technology has wide and mostly positive applications in language learning and teaching, that the benefits of those applications remain consistent across communities regardless of size and geographic location, and that new and innovative uses of technology are being adopted to support language revitalization efforts. Overall, the study underscores the importance of context in making grounded decisions about technology as a component of contemporary language revitalization efforts.

The research examines the effects of a bilingual pedagogical program (French/Tahitian) on the acquisition of oral and written French as well as the Tahitian language itself in primary schools in French Polynesia. 125 children divided into an experimental group (partially schooled in Tahitian for 300 min per week) and a control group (schooled in French) were followed from the second year of kindergarten to Grade 1 and tested on Tahitian and French language competence. The results show that the program appears to have a positive impact on Tahitian proficiency, without any negative effect on learning of French (oral and reading). (Contains 3 tables.)

While historians and anthropologists have thoroughly documented the management of leprosy in Hawai‘i, Cook Islands, Sāmoa, and Fiji, the case of the Établissements français de l’Océanie (now French Polynesia) has remained overlooked. This article focuses on the small atoll of Reao in eastern Tuamotus, where an official leprosarium was set up in the mid-1930s. It looks at the preventive and therapeutic measures taken between 1919 and 1956 and the endemic’s impacts on society. The article shows that the administrative response was slow and hampered by insufficient resources and Reao’s great distance from Tahiti. Also, these circumstances were conducive to the maintenance of the strong influence of Catholic missionaries and of close links between the patients and other Island inhabitants. Lastly, it appears that while the endemic led to the arrival of new goods, customs, and ideas, socio-cultural change remained limited overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hundreds of studies now document positive relationships between biodiversity and critical ecosystem processes, but as ecological communities worldwide shift toward new species configurations, less is known regarding how the biodiversity of undesirable species will shape the functioning of ecosystems or foundation species. We manipulated macroalgal species richness in experimental field plots to test whether and how the identity and diversity of competing macroalgae affected the growth, survival, and microbiome of a common coral in Mo'orea, French Polynesia. Compared to controls without algal competitors, coral growth was significantly suppressed across three macroalgal monocultures, a polyculture of the same three macroalgae, and plots containing inert seaweed mimics; coral mortality was limited and did not differ significantly among treatments. One macroalga suppressed coral growth significantly less than the other two, but none differed from the inert mimic in terms of coral suppression. The composition, dispersion, and diversity of coral microbiomes in treatments with live macroalgae or inert plastic mimics did not differ from controls experiencing no competition. Microbiome composition differed between two macroalgal monocultures and a monoculture versus plastic mimics, but no other microbiome differences were observed among macroalgal or mimic treatments. Together, these findings suggest that algal diversity does not alter harmful impacts of macroalgae on coral performance, which could be accounted for by physical structure alone in these field experiments. While enhancing biodiversity is a recognized strategy for promoting desirable species, it would be worrisome if biodiversity also enhanced the negative impacts of undesirable species. We documented no such effects in this investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Trait diversity, including trait turnover, that differentiates the roles of species and communities according to their functions, is a fundamental component of biodiversity. Accurately capturing trait diversity is crucial to better understand and predict community assembly, as well as the consequences of global change on community resilience. Existing methods to compute trait turnover have limitations. Trait space approaches based on minimum convex polygons only consider species with extreme trait values. Tree‐based approaches using dendrograms consider all species but distort trait distance between species. More recent trait space methods using complex polytopes try to harmonise the advantages of both methods, but their current implementation has mathematical flaws. We propose a new kernel integral method (KIM) to compute trait turnover, based on the integration of kernel density estimators (KDEs) rather than using polytopes. We explore how this approach and the computational aspects of the KDE computation can influence the estimates of trait turnover. The novel method is compared with existing ones using justified theoretical expectations for a large number of simulations in which the number of species and the distribution of their traits is controlled for. The practical application of KIM is then demonstrated using data on plant species introduced to the Pacific Islands of French Polynesia. Analyses on simulated data show that KIM generates results better aligned with theoretical expectations than other methods and is less sensitive to the total number of species. Analyses for French Polynesia data also show that different methods can lead to different conclusions about trait turnover and that the choice of method should be carefully considered based on the research question. The mathematical properties of methods for computing trait turnover are crucial to consider because they can have important effects on the results, and therefore lead to different conclusions. The novel KIM method provided here generates values that better reflect the distribution of species in trait space than other methods. We therefore recommend using KIM in studies on trait turnover. In contrast, tree‐based approaches should be kept for phylogenetic diversity, as phylogenetic trees will then reflect the speciation process.

Although mesophotic coral ecosystems account for approximately 80% of coral reefs, they remain largely unexplored due to their challenging accessibility. The acoustic richness within reefs has led scientists to consider passive acoustic monitoring as a reliable method for studying both altiphotic and mesophotic coral reefs. We investigated the relationship between benthic invertebrate sounds (1.5–22.5 kHz), depth, and benthic cover composition, key ecological factors that determine differences between altiphotic and mesophotic reefs. Diel patterns of snaps and peak frequencies were also explored at different depths to assess variations in biorhythms. Acoustic recorders were deployed at 20 m, 60 m, and 120 m depths across six islands in French Polynesia. The results indicated that depth is the primary driver of differences in broadband transient sound (BTS) soundscapes, with sound intensity decreasing as depth increases. At 20–60 m, sounds were louder at night. At 120 m depth, benthic activity rhythms exhibited low or highly variable levels of diel variation, likely a consequence of reduced solar irradiation. On three islands, a peculiar peak in the number of BTS was observed every day between 7 and 9 PM at 120 m, suggesting the presence of cyclic activities of a specific species. Our results support the existence of different invertebrate communities or distinct behaviors, particularly in deep mesophotic reefs. Overall, this study adds to the growing evidence supporting the use of passive acoustic monitoring to describe and understand ecological patterns in mesophotic reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Conidae is a family of marine gastropod molluscs that includes carnivorous and venomous species. The venom they produce is remarkably diverse and has recently drawn much interest from a pharmacological perspective. To respond to this growing interest, a better understanding of the ecology and biology of the species is required. Only a few studies have examined the feeding behaviour and the trophic specialization of these species in detail. In this study, we investigated diet through hunger and satiety experiments of eight species of cones that occur in French Polynesia and that present different feeding modes (piscivorous, molluscivorous or vermivorous). Monitoring behaviour of cones during fasting periods demonstrated a correlation between increased hunger and nocturnal cone activity, mainly for piscivorous species, while the molluscivores did not show this correlation. In the study on satiety, we defined an average frequency of feeding for cone species that were fed prey ad libitum. Finally, this study provided indications that will help to define an equilibrium feeding frequency in further studies involving the cultivation of cones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outlined with this report is what is known regarding a significant donation of photographs received by the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA), Cambridge, in 2010. The photographer was Jutta Merensky, later Jutta Gethen (1911–96). Information available at present indicates that she visited the Pacific twice or more, probably in 1961 and over 1968–69. Several hundred transparencies and prints now cared for in Cambridge feature landscapes, ceremonies, people and daily activities in Aotearoa New Zealand, Samoa, French Polynesia and elsewhere and notably include a sequence of tatau (tattooing) photographs from Samoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of ocean acidification on coral reef macroalgal community composition and metabolism have implications for the habitat supporting capacity of future reefs. In this pilot study, we use co-located semi-hourly measurements of total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity, and the stable carbon isotope composition of DIC (δ13CDIC) over a 27 + h period from Tetiaroa Atoll, French Polynesia, to investigate the potential for reef carbonate chemistry to record information related to benthic photosynthetic community composition and response to natural gradients in ambient acidity and dissolved carbon dioxide. The results of this preliminary sampling and modeling exercise suggest that Tetiaroa's macroalgal communities express plastic carbon-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) over daily cycles of productivity but may potentially vary this expression as a function of ambient CO2 and acidity within the ecosystem. Additional studies are, therefore, underway to investigate the implications of these observations for reef macroalgal compositional differences under rapidly acidifying oceans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine heatwaves are increasing in frequency and duration, threatening tropical reef ecosystems through intensified coral bleaching events. We examined a strikingly variable spatial pattern of bleaching in Moorea, French Polynesia following a heatwave that lasted from November 2018 to July 2019. In July 2019, four months after the onset of bleaching, we surveyed > 5000 individual colonies of the two dominant coral genera, Pocillopora and Acropora, at 10 m and 17 m water depths, at six forereef sites around the island where temperature was measured. We found severe bleaching increased with colony size for both coral genera, but Acropora bleached more severely than Pocillopora overall. Acropora bleached more at 10 m than 17 m, likely due to higher light availability at 10 m compared to 17 m, or greater daily temperature fluctuation at depth. Bleaching in Pocillopora corals did not differ with depth but instead varied with the interaction of colony size and Accumulated Heat Stress (AHS), in that larger colonies (> 30 cm) were more sensitive to AHS than mid-size (10–29 cm) or small colonies (5–9 cm). Our findings provide insight into complex interactions among coral taxa, colony size, and water depth that produce high spatial variation in bleaching and related coral mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamics of microbiomes through time are fundamental regarding survival and resilience of their hosts when facing environmental alterations. As for marine species with commercial applications, such as marine sponges, assessing the temporal change of prokaryotic communities allows us to better consider the adaptation of sponges to aquaculture designs. The present study aims to investigate the factors shaping the microbiome of the sponge Dactylospongia metachromia, in a context of aquaculture development in French Polynesia, Rangiroa, Tuamotu archipelago. A temporal approach targeting explants collected during farming trials revealed a relative high stability of the prokaryotic diversity, meanwhile a complementary biogeographical study confirmed a spatial specificity amongst samples at different longitudinal scales. Results from this additional spatial analysis confirmed that differences in prokaryotic communities might first be explained by environmental changes (mainly temperature and salinity), while no significant effect of the host phylogeny was observed. The core community of D. metachromia is thus characterized by a high spatiotemporal constancy, which is a good prospect for the sustainable exploitation of this species towards drug development. Indeed, a microbiome stability across locations and throughout the farming process, as evidenced by our results, should go against a negative influence of sponge translocation during in situ aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study revisited the taxonomy and diversity of brown macroalgae within the Scytosiphonaceae family in French Polynesia, which had previously been recognized as encompassing only six species. Using the chloroplast and mitochondrial genes rbcL, psbA, and cox3 as molecular markers in conjunction with morpho‐anatomical observations, we unveiled the presence of 11 species spanning six genera: Chnoospora minima, Colpomenia claytoniae, Co. sinuosa [groups IIIa and IIIb], Hydroclathrus rapanuii, H. tenuis, H. tilesii, Manzaea minuta, Pseudochnoospora implexa, Rosenvingea australis, and the newly described species R. polynesiensis sp. nov. and R. tahitiensis sp. nov. This encompasses the recognition of two previously unreported genera in this region: Manzaea and Pseudochnoospora. Sequences were successfully acquired for four taxa that had been documented previously, while the absence of sequences for H. clathratus and H. tumulis in French Polynesia raises queries about their presence in this region. With these additions, the total species count now stands at 13 (including H. clathratus and H. tumulis), one being an endemic species. The molecular‐assisted alpha taxonomic approach used here allowed for a critical revision of the Scytosiphonaceae species checklist for French Polynesia. The diversity revealed in this region accounts for a substantial 20% of the family's global diversity. Additionally, our study presents an updated species‐level phylogeny for the Scytosiphonaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caulerpa J.V. Lamouroux is a genus of green macroalgae belonging to the family Caulerpaceae in the order Bryopsidales. The genus comprises 104 currently accepted species, of which 51 have been recorded from Pacific Islands. Among these islands, French Polynesia is found in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean and includes five archipelagos (i.e., the Austral, Gambier, Marquesas, Society, and Tuamotu Islands) where seaweed inventories have reported a total of 16 Caulerpa species so far based on morphology. Here, based on a sampling covering the five archipelagos of French Polynesia, we attempt to (i) verify the taxonomy of Caulerpa species present in these regions based on phylogeny, (ii) describe in more detail the specific diversity between the five archipelagos, and (iii) provide a morphological identification tool for these species. We successfully obtained 134 new tufA sequences for phylogenetic analyses, which corresponded to 13 species. We propose to resurrect C. pickeringii Harvey & Bailey for representatives of C. webbiana var. pickeringii and classify it in the Caulerpa subgenus Araucarioideae. We also transfer C. seuratii to C. pickeringii based on genetic results. A new morphological identification key is provided as well as an updated distribution of Caulerpa species across French Polynesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I analyze stories about the negotiation of European racialization ideologies in the Society Islands (Tahiti and its Islands) in the late eighteenth century. My focus is the disjunctures between European understandings of their encounters at Tahiti, and what Pacific scholars have come to understand of Polynesian understandings of themselves and various foreigners in that early period. In doing so, I draw out the ways sexuality and gender mediated, enabled, and were also constituted through such racialization processes in their cultural and historical specificity. A key point of departure for this analysis is that the embodiment of race is a negotiated social process. The comparative historical case study I offer up here follows current scholarly moves in seeking out the insights to be gained by tracking racialization as a contingent process, as open rather than closed, as variegated rather than singular, and as imperfectly and only tenuously wrought through ideologies that may be profoundly unanticipated from the vantage point of modernist logics of essentialism and foundationalism. The resulting analysis aims to create space for critically revisiting the ways in which racial normativities and racialized embodiment operate, and how they work, and fail to work, to promote naturalized racist hierarchies of privilege and subordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Methods in Ecology & Evolution is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Background French Polynesia (FP) comprises 75 inhabited islands scattered across five archipelagos. Between July and October 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant triggered a much stronger second epidemic wave in FP than the original Wuhan strain, which was dominant from August 2020 to March 2021. Although previous seroprevalence surveys made it possible to determine the proportion of the population infected by SARS-CoV-2 on the two most populated islands (Tahiti and Moorea) after the first (20.6% in Tahiti and 9.4% in Moorea) and second (57.7% in Tahiti) epidemic waves, no data are available for more remote islands. We used blood samples and personal data collected before, during, and after the second wave from inhabitants of several islands within the five archipelagos to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and identify associated factors. Methods Blood samples and personal data were collected between April and December 2021 as part of the MATAEA study, a cross-sectional survey conducted on a random sample of the adult population representative of the five FP archipelagos and stratified by age and gender. IgG antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein were detected using a recombinant antigen-based microsphere immunoassay. Factors associated with anti-SARS-CoV-2-N seropositivity were identified using logistic regression models. Results Of 1,120 participants, 503 (44.9%) tested positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2-N antibodies, corresponding to a weighted prevalence of 56.8% for the FP population aged 18–69 years. The seroprevalence increased from 21.9% to 62.1% before and during/after the Delta wave. Of these infections, only 28.4% had been diagnosed by health professionals. The odds of being seropositive were lower in males, participants recruited before the Delta wave, those who had never been married, those with a diagnosed respiratory allergy, smokers, and those vaccinated against COVID-19. Conclusions Our results confirm the high impact of the Delta wave in FP. By the end of 2021, 56.8% of the FP population aged 18–69 years had been infected by SARS-CoV-2; the majority of these infections went undetected. Individuals with respiratory allergies were found to be less susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Large parts of the Pacific were thought to host low bee diversity. In Fiji alone, our recent estimates of native bee diversity have rapidly increased by a factor of five (from 4 to >22). Here, we show how including sampling of the forest canopy has quickly uncovered a new radiation of Hylaeus (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) bees in Fiji. We also show that Hylaeus are more common across the Pacific than previously thought and solve one of Charles Michener's mysteries by linking the previously enigmatic French Polynesian Hylaeus tuamotuensis to relatives in Fiji. We use systematic techniques to describe eight new Hylaeus species in Fiji (n = 6), French Polynesia (n = 1), and Micronesia (n = 1), and discuss impressive dispersal events by this genus. These clades also double the number of Hylaeus dispersals out of Australia from two to four. Our discovery highlights the severe impact of bee sampling methods on ecological interpretations and species discovery, specifically that canopy sampling is needed to correctly assess forest bee diversity even where there is a very long record of sampling. It further highlights the potential for forests to host higher-than-anticipated diversity and conservation value. This has broad methodological and regulatory impacts for land managers seeking to make choices about pollination services and diversity. The new species are Hylaeus (Euprosopoides) chuukensis Dorey, Davies, and Parslow; H. (Prosopisteron) albaeus Dorey, Davies, and Parslow; H. (P.) apertus Dorey, Davies, and Parslow; H. (P.) aureaviridis Dorey, Magnacca, and Parslow; H. (P.) breviflavus Magnacca; H. (P.) derectus Dorey, Davies, and Parslow; H. (P.) navai Dorey, Davies, and Parslow; and H. (P.) veli Dorey, Davies, and Parslow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding population dynamics is a long-standing objective of ecology, but the need for progress in this area has become urgent. For coral reefs, achieving this objective is impeded by a lack of information on settlement versus post-settlement events in determining recruitment and population size. Declines in coral abundance are often inferred to be associated with reduced densities of recruits, which could arise from mechanisms occurring at larval settlement, or throughout post-settlement stages. This study uses annual measurements from 2008 to 2021 of coral cover, the density of coral settlers (S), the density of small corals (SC), and environmental conditions, to evaluate the roles of settlement versus post-settlement events in determining rates of coral recruitment and changes in coral cover at Moorea, French Polynesia. Coral cover, S, SC, and the SC:S ratio (a proxy for post-settlement success), and environmental conditions, were used in generalized additive models (GAMs) to show that: (a) coral cover was more strongly related to SC and SC:S than S, and (b) SC:S was highest when preceded by cool seawater, low concentrations of Chlorophyll a, and low flow speeds, and S showed evidence of declining with elevated temperature. Together, these results suggest that changes in coral cover in Moorea are more strongly influenced by post-settlement events than settlement. The key to understanding coral community resilience may lie in elucidating the factors attenuating the bottleneck between settlers and small corals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Networks of opposition to French nuclear testing were nourished by transnational solidarities. By the end of the 1970s, links between Kanak and Mā'ohi expanded through trans-Pacific organizations such as the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) movement. They also grew beyond the shores of Oceania with the active participation of Occitan activists from lo Larzac in southern France. This agricultural plateau, already home to a decade-long fight against militarization, became a transnational hub for anti-nuclear activists. In the early 1980s, a 'Pape'ete–Noumea–Larzac' network emerged through lawyers Jean-Jacques de Félice and François Roux who brought their clients together in networks of solidarity. As brokers, they helped transform lo Larzac into a hub which linked anti-nuclear and anti-colonial struggles. This article examines the roots of rural resistance by focusing on how the links forged by transnational actors, including churches and non-violence groups, helped nourish an Oceania–Larzac activist network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implications of ocean acidification are acute for calcifying organisms, notably tropical reef corals, for which accretion generally is depressed and dissolution enhanced at reduced seawater pH. We describe year‐long experiments in which back reef and fore reef (17‐m depth) communities from Moorea, French Polynesia, were incubated outdoors under pCO2 regimes reflecting endpoints of representative concentration pathways (RCPs) expected by the end the century. Incubations were completed in three to four flumes (5.0 × 0.3 m, 500 L) in which seawater was refreshed and circulated at 0.1 m s−1, and the response of the communities was evaluated monthly by measurements of net community calcification (NCC) and net community productivity (NCP). For both communities, NCC (but not NCP) was affected by treatments and time, with NCC declining with increasing pCO2, and for the fore reef, becoming negative (i.e., dissolution was occurring) at the highest pCO2 (1067–1433 μatm, RCP8.5). There was scant evidence of community adjustment to reduce the negative effects of ocean acidification, and inhibition of NCC intensified in the back reef as the abundance of massive Porites spp. declined. These results highlight the risks of dissolution under ocean acidification for coral reefs and suggest these effects will be most acute in fore reef habitats. Without signs of amelioration of the negative effects of ocean acidification during year‐long experiments, it is reasonable to expect that the future of coral reefs in acidic seas can be predicted from their current known susceptibility to ocean acidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of VertigO is the property of La Revue Electronique en Sciences de l'Environnement VertigO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A new species Olpium caputi sp. nov. from Tahiti is described here based on external characters. This is the first record of the family Olpiidae Banks, 1895 from French Polynesia. Additionally, the genus Paratemnoides Harvey, 1991 is recorded from French Polynesia for the first time with the full description of new-found specimens of Paratemnoides assimilis (Beier, 1932). New localities of Geogarypus longidigitatus (Rainbow, 1897) are added. An identification key to pseudoscorpions of French Polynesia is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Assessing the distribution and abundance of marine fauna and the ecological status of coastal and pelagic ecosystems is key to biodiversity conservation, but the monitoring of mobile marine species raises multiple logistical and financial challenges. Aims: The project describes the distribution, abundance and taxonomic assemblage of several marine megafauna taxa in three subregions of the western and central South Pacific Ocean (New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, and French Polynesia). Methods: Large-scale aerial surveys were conducted using a standardised multi-taxon protocol, to characterise the occurrence and abundance of marine megafauna over 2.5 million km2. Analysing more than 122 000 km of transects, the densities of 22 different taxa were estimated: seven taxonomic groups of marine mammals (Physeteridae, Kogiidae, Ziphiidae, Globicephalinae, Small Delphininae, Large Delphininae, and Dugongidae), a single group for hard-shelled sea turtles, three groups of elasmobranchs (including whale sharks), and 11 groups of seabirds (including Phaethontidae, Hydrobatidae, Fregatidae and Sulidae). Key results: Contrasting patterns of species distribution were found. Marine mammal diversity increases north and west, with a distinct species assemblage in New Caledonia, compared to other subregions. A strong latitudinal gradient was observed across French Polynesia, independent of taxa. Conclusions: This study provides the first comparison of marine species assemblages across the three oceanic subregions and sets a regional baseline for the biogeography of marine megafauna in the region. Implications: The taxonomic and spatial extension of the results opens up new perspectives for the development of local conservation measures, especially for taxa with already documented population declines. This study simultaneously describes the spatial distribution and densities of 22 distinct taxonomic groups of marine mammals, sea turtles, elasmobranchs and seabirds over three large oceanic subregions of the western and central South Pacific Ocean. It demonstrates the value of multi-taxa monitoring applied to aerial surveys of offshore marine megafauna, and provides a baseline for future conservation measures. This article belongs to the Collection Marine Mammals in the Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Zika virus (ZIKV) has significant potential to cause future outbreaks due to insufficient countermeasures. The evolution of ZIKV in Southeast Asian countries remains poorly understood. Materials and Methods: The phylogenetic, phylogeographic network, and recombination analyses of 366 ZIKV complete genome sequences identified between 1947 and 2021 were performed and the amino acid variation landscape was determined to reveal the evolutionary characteristics. Results: ZIKV falls into two major genogroups: GI and GII, segregated into further subgenogroups (GI-1 to GI-3) and (GII-1 to GII-3), respectively. Importantly, Thailand strains cluster with Southeast Asian outbreak strains (Singapore 2016, the Philippines 2012, Cambodia 2010) into GII-2 and form a lineage independent of French Polynesia and the Americas large outbreak strains. Thailand ZIKV strains shared their ancestral route to the strains from French Polynesia, which further connects to Brazil ZIKV through a short mutational branch. Both recombination and specific mutations may contribute to the emergence of new virus lineage in Thailand. Conclusion: This report provides insights into the evolutionary characteristics of ZIKV in Southeast Asia, which may be helpful for epidemiological investigation, vaccine development, and surveillance of the virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a comprehensive description of the safety system of a real installation that comprises PV panels, lithium-ion batteries, an electrolyzer, H 2 storage, a fuel cell, and a barium chloride/ammonia thermochemical prototype for heat recovery and cooling production. Such a system allows for the increase of the overall efficiency of the H 2 chain by exploiting the waste heat and transforming it into a cooling effect, particularly useful in tropical regions like French Polynesia. The study provides a great deal of detail regarding practical aspects of the system implementation and a consistent reference to the relevant standards and regulations applicable to the subject matter. More specifically, the study covers the ATEX classification of the site, the safety features of each component, the electrical power distribution, the main safety instrumented system, fire safety and the force ventilation system. The study also includes safety assessment and a section on lessons learned that could serve as guidance for future installations. In addition, an extensive amount of technical data is readily available to the reader in repository (P&ID, electrical diagrams, etc.). • Comprehensive description of the safety system of a real installation. • Great deal of detail regarding practical aspects of the system implementation. • Consistent referencing to the relevant standards applicable to the subject matter. • Layout of lessons learned and guidance for future installations. • Extensive technical data available in repository (P&ID, electrical diagrams, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reef shark species have undergone sharp declines in recent decades, as they inhabit coastal areas, making them an easy target in fisheries (i.e., sharks are exploited globally for their fins, meat, and liver oil) and exposing them to other threats (e.g., being part of by‐catch, pollution, and climate change). Reef sharks play a critical role in coral reef ecosystems, where they control populations of smaller predators and herbivorous fishes either directly via predation or indirectly via behavior, thus protecting biodiversity and preventing potential overgrazing of corals. The urgent need to conserve reef shark populations necessitates a multifaceted approach to policy at local, federal, and global levels. However, monitoring programmes to evaluate the efficiency of such policies are lacking due to the difficulty in repeatedly sampling free‐ranging, wild shark populations. Over nine consecutive years, we monitored juveniles of the blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) population around Moorea, French Polynesia, and within the largest shark sanctuary globally, to date. We investigated the roles of spatial (i.e., sampling sites) and temporal variables (i.e., sampling year, season, and month), water temperature, and interspecific competition on shark density across 10 coastal nursery areas. Juvenile C. melanopterus density was found to be stable over 9 years, which may highlight the effectiveness of local and likely federal policies. Two of the 10 nursery areas exhibited higher juvenile shark densities over time, which may have been related to changes in female reproductive behavior or changes in habitat type and resources. Water temperatures did not affect juvenile shark density over time as extreme temperatures proven lethal (i.e., 33°C) in juvenile C. melanopterus might have been tempered by daily variation. The proven efficiency of time‐series datasets for reef sharks to identify critical habitats (having the highest juvenile shark densities over time) should be extended to other populations to significantly contribute to the conservation of reef shark species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]