peer reviewed | The northwestern shelf of the Black Sea has been affected by eutrophication and bottom hypoxia since the sixties. Consequently, the macrozoobenthos has suffered a well-established decline in biodiversity. However, the nature of the current benthic communities remains questionable. From 1995 to 2017, we compiled species and abiotic data for 138 sites over the shelf. Through an appropriate multivariate analytical approach, we identified benthic community changes solely due to organic pollution variations. Our results show signs of recovery with an increase in biodiversity and proportion of species vulnerable to organic enrichment. These changes were related to a decrease in riverine loads and subsequent eutrophication. However, some long-lived species typical of the area still did not exhibit noticeable recovery, which suggests that either the recovery process has not yet been achieved or some environmental conditions are still not met to warrant a sea floor ecosystem state substantially healthy. | 14. Life below water

International audience | BioROC aims to improve knowledge of the biofilm and soil macrofauna influence in the water reuse field including constructed wetland (CW) and irrigation. This project will contribute to the adoption of innovative practices, working in two living labs of Toulouse Métropole and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. The challenge is to test a panel of CW with a gradient of biodiversity (+/- plants and +/- invertebrate addition), to identify the most suited modalities for reuse in irrigation. BioROC aims to find the best match between irrigation devices and CW functioning. The obstacles to be overcome are the clogging of filters and drip-irrigation systems by biofilm. The quality of the biofilms and their dynamics will be described using metagenomic analyses, sensors, and modeling. These results obtained in an interdisciplinary approach make it possible to improve current capacities to control biofilm in drip-irrigation systems and the accuracy of bioinspired CW for water reuse.

The study was carried out on the territory of the Kemerovo region-Kuzbass (Western Siberia, Russia). The purpose of the study was to obtain information on the species diversity and population of big-game animals. The monitoring was carried out on the forest territories of the region’s administrative districts. In the course of remote sensing using an unmanned aerial vehicle, the presence of all types of animals under consideration, except for the bear, was recorded. The deviation of the population number determined using the traditional method of digital technologies varied up to 50%. It was established that environmental measures organized and carried out by the regional administration and hunting farms improved the situation and stabilized the population of the main group of game animals. It was found that when using a sufficiently high sensitivity of the thermal imager (the used thermal imager had a very high sensitivity class ≤ 60 mK at 300 K), long-haired animals, which are characterized by a lower intensity of thermal radiation (for example, wolves) are identified and recognized in the images. The larger the animal and the worse the thermal insulation layer (wool or feathers), the easier it is to identify it in infrared images and the lower the sensitivity requirements of thermal imagers. The ability to recognize and record smaller animals and birds requires additional research on existing technologies. Our research has confirmed the validity of digital remote monitoring methods for managing the wildlife of hunting farms and nature conservation areas of the Siberian Taiga territories.