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IntroductionDisease-related malnutrition is common and is often identified during a hospital admission. Hospital stays tend to be short and therefore it is crucial that nutritional interventions begun in hospital are continued on discharge (Elia et al 2010). Research has highlighted failings in nutritional care across this boundary (van Bokhorst-de van der Schueren et al 2005; Bavelaar et al 2008). The aim of this study was to evaluate the continuation of dietetic interventions across the transition from acute to community care.MethodsAll patients admitted to the acute medical wards and referred to a dietitian for nutrition support between 1 July and 30 September 2011 were considered eligible for this study. Patients were excluded if they died within 1-month of discharge, received enteral or parenteral nutrition, were receiving dietetic care for a long-term chronic condition or were still in hospital at 31 October 2011. Eligible patients or their carers were contacted to determine whether recommendations for their post-discharge oral nutritional support had been carried out. Data were analysed using SPSS V.17.0.ResultsOf 108 patients, 27 (25 %) died before contact could be made and 17 (16 %) did not meet the inclusion criteria. 64 patients were included in this study of whom 35 (56%) were recommended one or more post-discharge dietetic interventions, including consumption of oral nutritional supplements and follow-up dietetic appointments. Of the 35 patients, it was not possible to contact 14 (40 %) within the time limits of the study. Contact was made with 21 patients of whom 17 (81%) received all the interventions recommended by the dietitian. Of the four patients who did not receive the recommended interventions, in 3 (75%) this was due to patient perception that treatment was no longer required. Of the 64 patients who met the inclusion criteria no comments were included in the discharge letter from the medical team on either nutritional status or dietetic input.ConclusionIn this study it was possible to contact only a small sample of eligible patients however, of those who were contacted the majority had received the post-discharge interventions recommended by the dietitian. Further studies are required to determine if dietetic recommendations are as likely to be carried out in patients who are more difficult to contact post discharge.Competing interestsNone declared.References1. Bavelaar JW, Otter CD, van Bodegraven AA, et al. Clin Nutr 2008; 27:431-8.2. Elia M, Russell CA, Stratton RJ. Proc Nutr Soc 2010; 69:470-6.3. van Bokhorst-de van der Schueren MAE, Klinkenberg M, Thijs A. Eur J Clin Nutr 2005; 59:1129-35.

For prawn trawling systems, drag reduction is a high priority as the trawling process is energy intensive. Large benefits have occurred through the use of multiple-net rigs and thin twine in the netting. An additional positive effect of these successful twine-area reduction strategies is the reduced amount of otter board area required to spread the trawl systems, which leads to further drag reduction. The present work investigated the potential of redirecting the drag-strain within a prawn trawl away from the wings and the otter boards to the centre line of the trawl, where top and bottom tongues have been installed, with an aim to minimise the loading/size of the otter boards required to spread the trawl. In the system containing the new 'W' trawl, the drag redirected to the centre-line tongues is transferred forward through a connected sled and towing wires to the trawler. To establish the extent of drag redirection to the centre-line tongues and the relative drag benefits of the new trawl system, conventional and 'W' trawls of 3.65 m headline length were tested firstly over a range of spread ratios in the flume tank, and subsequently at optimum spread ratio in the field. The developed 'W' trawl effectively directed 64% of netting-drag off the wings and onto the centre tongues, which resulted in drag savings in the field of 20% for the associated 'W' trawl/otter-board/sled system compared to the traditional trawl/otter-board arrangement in a single trawl or twin rig configuration. Furthermore, based on previously published data, the new trawl when used in a twin rig system is expected to provide approximately 12% drag reduction compared to quad rig. The twin 'W' trawl system also has benefits over quad rig in that a reduced number of cod-end/By-catch Reduction Device units need to be installed and attended each tow.

Bottom-trawl fisheries are wide-spread and have large effects on benthic ecosystems. We investigate the effect of scallop dredging on sand and otter trawling on mud by measuring changes in the infaunal community and the biogeochemical processes which they mediate. We hypothesize that changes in biogeochemistry due to fishing will be larger in mud where macrofauna-mediated processes are expected to play a greater role, than in sand where hydrodynamics mediate the redox system. We sampled benthic infauna, sediment pore-water nutrients, oxygen, chlorophyll a (Chl a), apparent redox potential discontinuity layer, organic carbon and nitrogen content over a gradient of fishing intensity in sand and mud. The effects of fishing on biogeochemistry were stronger on mud than on sand, where biogeochemistry appeared to be more strongly influenced by tidal currents and waves. On mud, trawling increased sediment-surface Chl a and ammonium concentration beyond 5 cm depth, but decreased ammonium and silicate concentration in the upper sediment layers. The effects of fauna and bioturbation potential on biogeochemistry were very limited in both mud and sand habitats. Our results suggests that otter trawling may be affecting organic-matter remineralization and nutrient cycling through sediment resuspension and burial of organic matter to depth rather than through the loss of bioturbation potential of the benthic community. In conclusion, our hypothesis that the effects of trawling on biogeochemistry are larger in mud is supported, but the hypothesis that these effects are mediated by changes in the infauna is not supported. These results imply that management of trawling on muddy sediments should have higher priority.

Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758), commonly known as the Eurasian otter, is the most widely distributed of the lutrinids (otters). L. lutra is primarily a piscivorous predator but also preys on amphibians, crustaceans, small mammals, birds, and reptiles. Extant populations of this semiaquatic mustelid occur in a wide variety of aquatic freshwater and marine habitats throughout Asia, all of Europe, and parts of northern Africa. Despite the large distribution, habitat loss has led to dwindling L. lutra populations, particularly in Asia, and the species is currently listed as “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation and Nature and Natural Resources.

Marine mammals have greatly benefitted from a shift from resource exploitation towards conservation. Often lauded as symbols of conservation success, some marine mammal populations have shown remarkable recoveries after severe depletions. Others have remained at low abundance levels, continued to decline, or become extinct or extirpated. Here we provide a quantitative assessment of (1) publicly available population-level abundance data for marine mammals worldwide, (2) abundance trends and recovery status, and (3) historic population decline and recent recovery. We compiled 182 population abundance time series for 47 species and identified major data gaps. In order to compare across the largest possible set of time series with varying data quality, quantity and frequency, we considered an increase in population abundance as evidence of recovery. Using robust log-linear regression over three generations, we were able to classify abundance trends for 92 spatially non-overlapping populations as Significantly Increasing (42%), Significantly Decreasing (10%), Non-Significant Change (28%) and Unknown (20%). Our results were comparable to IUCN classifications for equivalent species. Among different groupings, pinnipeds and other marine mammals (sirenians, polar bears and otters) showed the highest proportion of recovering populations, likely benefiting from relatively fast life histories and nearshore habitats that provided visibility and protective management measures. Recovery was less frequent among cetaceans, but more common in coastal than offshore populations. For marine mammals with available historical abundance estimates (n = 47), larger historical population declines were associated with low or variable recent recoveries so far. Overall, our results show that many formerly depleted marine mammal populations are recovering. However, data-deficient populations and those with decreasing and non-significant trends require attention. In particular, increased study of populations with major data gaps, including offshore small cetaceans, cryptic species, and marine mammals in low latitudes and developing nations, is needed to better understand the status of marine mammal populations worldwide.

Effects of climate change on animal behavior and cascading ecosystem responses are rarely evaluated. In coastal Alaska, social river otters (Lontra Canadensis), largely males, cooperatively forage on schooling fish and use latrine sites to communicate group associations and dominance. Conversely, solitary otters, mainly females, feed on intertidal-demersal fish and display mutual avoidance via scent marking. This behavioral variability creates \"hotspots\" of nutrient deposition and affects plant productivity and diversity on the terrestrial landscape. Because the abundance of schooling pelagic fish is predicted to decline with climate change, we developed a spatially-explicit individual-based model (IBM) of otter behavior and tested six scenarios based on potential shifts to distribution patterns of schooling fish. Emergent patterns from the IBM closely mimicked observed otter behavior and landscape use in the absence of explicit rules of intraspecific attraction or repulsion. Model results were most sensitive to rules regarding spatial memory and activity state following an encounter with a fish school. With declining availability of schooling fish, the number of social groups and the time simulated otters spent in the company of conspecifics declined. Concurrently, model results suggested an elevation of defecation rate, a 25% increase in nitrogen transport to the terrestrial landscape, and significant changes to the spatial distribution of \"hotspots\" with declines in schooling fish availability. However, reductions in availability of schooling fish could lead to declines in otter density over time.

Abstract Conservation genetic analyses of many endangered species have been based on genotyping of microsatellite loci and sequencing of short fragments of mtDNA. The increase in power and resolution afforded by whole genome approaches may challenge conclusions made on limited numbers of loci and maternally inherited haploid markers. Here, we provide a matched comparison of whole genome sequencing versus microsatellite and control region (CR) genotyping for Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra). Previous work identified four genetically differentiated “stronghold” populations of otter in Britain, derived from regional populations that survived the population crash of the 1950s–1980s. Using whole genome resequencing data from 45 samples from across the British stronghold populations, we confirmed some aspects of population structure derived from previous marker-driven studies. Importantly, we showed that genomic signals of the population crash bottlenecks matched evidence from otter population surveys. Unexpectedly, two strongly divergent mitochondrial lineages were identified that were undetectable using CR fragments, and otters in the east of England were genetically distinct and surprisingly variable. We hypothesize that this previously unsuspected variability may derive from past releases of Eurasian otters from other, non-British source populations in England around the time of the population bottleneck. Our work highlights that even reasonably well-studied species may harbor genetic surprises, if studied using modern high-throughput sequencing methods.

The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is often associated with pristine or restored habitats in Europe. Increasingly, however, this species is occupying suboptimal urban environments. Between 2018 and 2021 Duarte et al monitored otters along the Spanish coast from Tarifa to Malaga, the western-most region of the Mediterranean Sea. They found otters prospering in urban environments such as golf courses, ports, and highly polluted streams. In 2012, in the port of Estepona, two otters were observed consuming fish unintentionally dropped while fishers were unloading their catches from boats.

The quantification of individuality is a common research theme in the fields of population, community, and evolutionary ecology. The potential for individuality to arise is likely context-dependent, and the influence of habitat characteristics on its prevalence has received less attention than intraspecific competition. We examined individual diet specialization in 16 sea otter (Enhydra lutris) populations from southern California to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Because population histories, relative densities, and habitat characteristics vary widely among sites, we could examine the effects of intraspecific competition and habitat on the prevalence of individual diet specialization. Using observed diet data, we classified half of our sites as rocky substrate habitats and the other half containing a mixture of rocky and unconsolidated (soft) sediment substrates. We used stable isotope data to quantify populationand individual-level diet variation. Among rocky substrate sites, the slope [±standard error (SE)] of the positive significant relationship between the within-individual component (WIC) and total isotopie niche width (TINW) was shallow (0.23 ± 0.07) and negatively correlated with sea otter density. In contrast, the slope of the positive WIC/TINW relationship for populations inhabiting mixed substrate habitats was much higher (0.53 ± 0.14), suggesting a low degree of individuality, irrespective of intraspecific competition. Our results show that the potential for individuality to occur as a result of increasing intraspecific competition is contextdependent and that habitat characteristics, which ultimately influence prey diversity, relative abundance, and the range of skillsets required for efficient prey procurement, are important in determining when and where individual diet specialization occurs in nature.

The late Pleistocene extinction of so many large-bodied vertebrates has been variously attributed to two general causes: rapid climate change and the effects of humans as they spread from the Old World to previously uninhabited continents and islands. Many large-bodied vertebrates, especially large apex predators, maintain their associated ecosystems through top-down forcing processes, especially trophic cascades, and megaherbivores also exert an array of strong indirect effects on their communities. Thus, a third possibility for at least some of the Pleistocene extinctions is that they occurred through habitat changes resulting from the loss of these other keystone species. Here we explore the plausibility of this mechanism, using information on sea otters, kelp forests, and the recent extinction of Steller’s sea cows from the Commander Islands. Large numbers of sea cows occurred in the Commander Islands at the time of their discovery by Europeans in 1741. Although extinction of these last remaining sea cows during early years of the Pacific maritime fur trade is widely thought to be a consequence of direct human overkill, we show that it is also a probable consequence of the loss of sea otters and the co-occurring loss of kelp, even if not a single sea cow had been killed directly by humans. This example supports the hypothesis that the directly caused extinctions of a few large vertebrates in the late Pleistocene may have resulted in the coextinction of numerous other species.