Species of Thaumatomastix (Thaumatomastigidae, Protista incertae sedis) from the Arctic sea ice biota (North-East Water Polynya, NE Greenland)

The sea ice biota of polar regions contains numerous heterotrophic flagellates very few of which have been properly identified. The whole mount technique for transmission electron microscopy enables the identification of loricate and scaly forms. A survey of Arctic ice samples (North-East Water Polynya, NE Greenland) revealed the presence of ca. 12 taxa belonging to the phagotrophic genus Thaumatomastix (Protista incertae sedis). Species of Thaumatomastix possess siliceous body scales and one naked and one scale-covered flagellum. The presence in both Arctic samples and sea ice material previously examined from the Antarctic indicates that this genus is most likely ubiquitous in polar sea ice and may be an important component in sea ice biota microbial activities.     

Travel experience matters: Expected personal mobility impacts after simulated L3/L4 automated driving

Transportation - Automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to change personal mobility in the near future. Most studies on the mobility impacts of AVs focus on fully automated (SAE L5) vehicles, but...     

Effects of the 1988/89 climatic regime shift on the structure and function of the southwestern Japan/East Sea ecosystem

In this study we compared the structure of the ecosystem and the role of major species before and after 1988/89 climatic regime shift (CRS) in the southwestern Japan/East Sea. The 1988/89 CRS event changed the biomass and production of fisheries resources in the southwestern Japan/East Sea. Total biomass of all species groups in the ecosystem increased by 59% after the CRS. These results indicate that there were substantial changes in the function of major species in the southwestern Japan/East Sea ecosystem. The relative contribution of walleye pollock, at trophic level (TL) III, to the total flow of energy decreased drastically from 33.0% in the pre-CRS period to 4.3% in the post-CRS period, while that of common squid, at the same TL, doubled from 34.2% to 72.2% during the periods.