Polar ecosystems harbour a unique cold-adapted biodiversity that is threatened by rapid environmental change and increasing anthropogenic impact. In this context, multi-scale data on connectivity and adaptation are essential for supporting exploitation and conservation management of living resources and ecosystems. Notably, marine protected areas are most effective if implemented as a network that considers functional diversity and connectivity within and between species. In the present study, 607 individuals of ten Trematomus species were sequenced using ddRAD sequencing techniques. Thousands of genomic variants were used to investigate inter- and intraspecific patterns of divergence and connectivity across the Southern Ocean shelf. Moreover, genomic SNPs that showed evidence of selection (“outlier loci”) were used to explore potential local adaptation of the populations to different environmental conditions. Population structure analyses of four different species (T. loennbergii, T. eulepidotus, T. scotti and T. newnesi) suggest long- range dispersal across the Weddell Sea and even along the entire West Antarctic coast that might be facilitated by the Weddell Sea Gyre and Antarctic Coastal current. A genetic break at the level of the Filchner Trough was observed in several species. The strong outflow from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf may separate the trough area from the remaining Weddell Sea habitat. Finally, results suggest that previously undetected cryptic diversity may be present within T. eulepidotus and T. loennbergii. Altogether, the present results contribute to the assessment of diversity, connectivity and adaptation on the Southern Ocean shelf, which is imperative in view of unprecedented global change.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
During the last decade, several research programs have shed light on the funerary spaces from the Byzantine city of Hierapolis, located in the ancient province of Phrygia, southwest Turkey. The diversity of the investigated burials has been studied using interdisciplinary approaches, including bioarchaeology; this recent research has enabled us to compensate for the incomplete data from former excavations and address new issues. Topography, architectural types, reconstruction of perishable arrangements, grave management, and biological identity of the deceased have been jointly analyzed to identify four kinds of burial spaces in use during the 11th and 12th centuries CE. Our results indicate that each of these spaces was reserved for a specific social category: An enclosed cemetery surrounding a small church was the burial place of the general Christian population in Hierapolis, while much prestigious sites, such as the urban Cathedral and the St. Philip sanctuary, accommodated tombs of clergy and privileged inhabitants. By contrast, non-local Christians, namely identified pilgrims from western Europe, did not have access to burial in these community spaces, but were interred in reopened Roman chamber tombs situated not far from the aforementioned St Philip sanctuary. Finally our results indicate that people were excluded from the community in Hierapolis in death in the cases of tombs situated outside the cemetery walls, as well as three inhumations discovered in a waste and dumping ground. Together, our findings outline a Byzantine funerary landscape much more diversified than usually described and demonstrate community, social stratification, and separation of social groups within a medieval city.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
