Orkney and Shetland, the population isolates which make up the Northern Isles of Scotland, are of particular interest to multiple sclerosis (MS) research. While MS prevalence is high in Scotland, Orkney has the highest global prevalence, higher than more northerly Shetland. Many hypotheses for the excess of MS cases in Orkney have been investigated, including vitamin D deficiency and homozygosity: neither was found to cause the high prevalence of MS. It is possible that this excess prevalence may be explained through unique genetics. We used polygenic risk scores (PRS) to look at the contribution of common risk variants to MS. Analyses were conducted using ORCADES (97/2118 cases/controls), VIKING (15/2000 cases/controls) and Generation Scotland (30/8708 cases/controls) datasets. However, no evidence of a difference in MS associated common variant frequencies was found between the three control populations, aside from HLA-DRB1*1501 tag SNP rs9271069. This SNP had a significantly higher risk allele frequency in Orkney (0.23, p-value = 8 x 10-13) and Shetland (0.21, p-value = 2.3 x 10-6) than mainland Scotland (0.17). This difference in frequency is estimated to account for 6 (95% CI 3, 8) out of 150 observed excess cases per 100,000 individuals in Shetland and 9 (95% CI 8, 11) of the observed 257 excess cases per 100,000 individuals in Orkney, compared with mainland Scotland. Common variants therefore appear to account for little of the excess burden of MS in the Northern Isles of Scotland.

The South Shetland Antarctic fur seal pup census dataset is part of long-term monitoring efforts in the South Shetland Islands archipelago (SSI), based at Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island. These efforts, which include conducting annual synoptic census counts of South Shetland Antarctic fur seals (SSAFS) throughout the region, have been primarily carried out by the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) United States Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program (U.S. AMLR). These census data will continue to be collected by the U.S. AMLR program, and updated yearly.

Recent studies have demonstrated Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) are composed of at least four distinct subpopulations (Bonin et al. 2013, Paijmans et al. 2020), including one breeding throughout the SSI. These SSAFS are the highest latitude population of otariids in the world. As such, this subpopulation faces a unique array of environmental and ecological challenges, harbors a disproportionately large reservoir of genetic diversity for the species, and has experienced catastrophic population decline between 2008 and 2023 (Krause et al. 2023 and references therein). Therefore, ensuring access to accurate and updated population data for SSAFS is particularly important for managers and decision makers. Due to regular absences by foraging females throughout the breeding season, and the irregular haul out patterns of males and subadults, the most informative measure of fur seal population size is to annually count pups (Payne, 1979; Bengtson et al., 1990). This dataset consists of all known total synoptic Antarctic fur seal pup counts (i.e., live and dead pups) from the SSI during the austral summers since 1959. Counts from the subset breeding colonies at Cape Shirreff (CS, reported with standard deviation (±SD) where available) and the San Telmo Islets (STI) are also included. Data were collected by the U.S. AMLR Program, unless otherwise indicated.

Most of these annual census counts were conducted during the optimal biological window (late December and early January) when the vast majority of pups are born, but have not yet been subject to substantial mortality (Krause et al. 2022). The authors are confident that all counts included in this dataset are comparable and representative of South Shetland Antarctic fur seal population trends. However, census dates, or at least best estimates of the census date, are included for all records for any parties wishing to apply correction factors.

The data are published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive, which contains count data for SSAFS pups from the specified locations during the specified seasons. This dataset is published under the license CC0. Please follow the guidelines from the SCAR Data Policy (SCAR, 2023) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via data-biodiversity-aq@naturalsciences.be. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/us-amlr/ssafs-pup-census.

This dataset is maintained by the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program, funded by NOAA.

Islands of South Shetland Islands. name, geology, archipelago, Area, latitude, Length, waterbody, longitude, population, country

In 1972 the biologist, Dr.Victor Ariel Gallardo, recovered benthonic samples from the bottom of Admiralty and Chile Bay, in the South part of King George Island, for biological purposes. During his lab analysis, he found two different projectile points in separate plastic bottles. Archaeological studies of the artifacts and the place where they where discovered, proved that that these points where not originally from that place, but they were introduced by unknown people during the transportation or during its stay in the laboratory (Concepcion). During the field work, a survey was done in Admiralty Bay and on the North coast of King George Island, finding numerous historical sites, one of which "Cuatro Pircas", was excavated the following year.

DWD’s fully automatic MOSMIX product optimizes and interprets the forecast calculations of the NWP models ICON (DWD) and IFS (ECMWF), combines these and calculates statistically optimized weather forecasts in terms of point forecasts (PFCs). Thus, statistically corrected, updated forecasts for the next ten days are calculated for about 5400 locations around the world. Most forecasting locations are spread over Germany and Europe. MOSMIX forecasts (PFCs) include nearly all common meteorological parameters measured by weather stations. For further information please refer to: [in German: https://www.dwd.de/DE/leistungen/met_verfahren_mosmix/met_verfahren_mosmix.html ] [in English: https://www.dwd.de/EN/ourservices/met_application_mosmix/met_application_mosmix.html ]

Antarctic fur seals (AFS) are an ecologically important predator and a focal indicator species for ecosystem-based Antarctic fisheries management. This species suffered intensive anthropogenic exploitation until the early 1900s, but recolonized most of its former distribution, including the southern-most colony at Cape Shirreff, South Shetland Islands (SSI). The IUCN describes a single, global AFS population of least concern; however, extensive genetic analyses clearly identify four distinct breeding stocks, including one in the SSI. To update the population status of SSI AFS, we analyzed 20 years of field-based data including population counts, body size and condition, natality, recruitment, foraging behaviors, return rates, and pup mortality at the largest SSI colony. Our findings show a precipitous decline in AFS abundance (86% decrease since 2007), likely driven by leopard seal predation (increasing since 2001, p << 0.001) and potentially worsening summer foraging conditions. We estimated that leopard seals consumed an average of 69.3% (range: 50.3–80.9%) of all AFS pups born each year since 2010. AFS foraging-trip durations, an index of their foraging habitat quality, were consistent with decreasing krill and fish availability. Significant improvement in the age-specific over-winter body condition of AFS indicates that observed population declines are driven by processes local to the northern Antarctic Peninsula. The loss of SSI AFS would substantially reduce the genetic diversity of the species, and decrease its resilience to climate change. There is an urgent need to reevaluate the conservation status of Antarctic fur seals, particularly for the rapidly declining SSI population.

This dataset contains in a zipfile the shapefiles for the seabird breeding colonies at Stinker Point (Elephant Island, Maritime Antarctic Peninsula), the elevation of Stinker Point and the Elephant Island contour. All shapefiles are projected in WGS 1984 World Mercator projected coordinate system.

Antarctic fur seals (AFS) are an ecologically important predator and a focal indicator species for ecosystem-based Antarctic fisheries management. This species suffered intensive anthropogenic exploitation until the early 1900s, but recolonized most of its former distribution, including the southern-most colony at Cape Shirreff, South Shetland Islands (SSI). The IUCN describes a single, global AFS population of least concern; however, extensive genetic analyses clearly identify four distinct breeding stocks, including one in the SSI. To update the population status of SSI AFS, we analyzed 20 years of field-based data including population counts, body size and condition, natality, recruitment, foraging behaviors, return rates, and pup mortality at the largest SSI colony. Our findings show a precipitous decline in AFS abundance (86% decrease since 2007), likely driven by leopard seal predation (increasing since 2001, p < 0.001) and potentially worsening summer foraging conditions. We estimated that leopard seals consumed an average of 69.3% (range: 50.3–80.9%) of all AFS pups born each year since 2010. AFS foraging-trip durations, an index of their foraging habitat quality, were consistent with decreasing krill and fish availability. Significant improvement in the age-specific over-winter body condition of AFS indicates that observed population declines are driven by processes local to the northern Antarctic Peninsula. The loss of SSI AFS would substantially reduce the genetic diversity of the species, and decrease its resilience to climate change. There is an urgent need to reevaluate the conservation status of Antarctic fur seals, particularly for the rapidly declining SSI population.

Viking Genes is a research project consisting of three population cohorts, VIKING II, VIKING Health Study Shetland and the Orkney Complex Disease Study (ORCADES). It aims to discover the genes and variants that influence the risk of complex diseases.

Survey of dogwhelks at 20 sites around Sullom Voe and Yell Sound, to study the incidence of imposex and its effects on population structure. Population data collected on site and dogwhelks sampled for imposex analysis at Marine Scotland Lab, Aberdeen.

This line graph shows how many accompanied passenger cars were transported from Great Britain to the Orkney and Shetland islands annually from 2004 to 2016. There has been a steady increase in passenger car traffic to the Orkney and Shetland islands over the time period shown. The highest number of cars transported to the Orkney and Shetland islands was observed in 2015 with 260 thousand cars. It slightly dropped in 2016.

A special long-term research program, the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (EMM), has been adopted by the Scientific Committee of CCAMLR (SC-CAMLR). The aim of this program is to detect and record significant changes in critical components of the ecosystem, using these data as a basis for the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources. The program is coordinated by the Scientific Committee and carried out as part of the national program of CCMLR members (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Japan, Korea, New Zealand United Kingdom, United States) and it involves monitoring studies on land-based colonies of several species of marine birds and seals.Argentina carried out this program in three different colonies of Adelia Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, located in Potter Peninsula (Isla 25 de Mayo, South Shetland Islands), Mossman Peninsula (Laurie Island, South Orkney) y Bah?a Esperanza (Antarctic Peninsula). In this way, Argentina has data on two extensive areas where krill fishing is important.Moreover the diet of different flying birds which were identified as senitives species to changes in the Antarctic Ecosystem is being study.

Abstract

Intraspecific variation in animal mating systems can have important implications for ecological, evolutionary and demographic processes in wild populations. For example, patterns of mating can impact social structure, dispersal, effective population size and inbreeding. However, few species have been studied in sufficient detail to elucidate mating system plasticity and its dependence on ecological and demographic factors. Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) have long been regarded as a textbook example of a polygynous mating system, with dominant ‘beachmaster’ males controlling harems of up to several hundred females. However, behavioural and genetic studies have uncovered appreciable geographic variation in the strength of polygyny among elephant seal populations. We therefore used molecular parentage analysis to investigate patterns of parentage in a small satellite colony of elephant seals at the South Shetland Islands. We hypothesised that dominant males would be able to successfully monopolise the relatively small numbers of females present in the colony, leading to relatively high levels of polygyny. A total of 424 individuals (comprising 33 adult males, 101 adult females and 290 pups) sampled over eight years were genotyped at 20 microsatellites and reproductive success was analysed by genetically assigning parents. Paternity could only be assigned to 31 pups (10.7%), despite our panel of genetic markers being highly informative and the genotyping error rate being very low. The strength of inferred polygyny was weak in comparison to previous genetic studies of the same species, with the most successful male fathering only seven pups over the entire course of the study. Our results show that, even in a species long regarded as a model for extreme polygyny, male reproductive skew can vary substantially among populations.

Islands of Aitcho Islands (South Shetland Islands). name, geology, archipelago, Area, latitude, Length, waterbody, longitude, population, country

Human population isolates provide a snapshot of the impact of historical demographic processes on population genetics. Such data facilitate studies of the functional impact of rare sequence variants on biomedical phenotypes, as strong genetic drift can result in higher frequencies of variants that are otherwise rare. We present the first whole genome sequencing (WGS) study of the VIKING cohort, a representative collection of samples from the isolated Shetland population in northern Scotland, and explore how its genetic characteristics compare to a mainland Scottish population. Our analyses reveal the strong contributions played by the founder effect and genetic drift in shaping genomic variation in the VIKING cohort. About one tenth of all high-quality variants discovered are unique to the VIKING cohort or are seen at frequencies at least ten fold higher than in more cosmopolitan control populations. Multiple lines of evidence also suggest relaxation of purifying selection during the evolutionary history of the Shetland isolate. We demonstrate enrichment of ultra-rare VIKING variants in exonic regions and for the first time we also show that ultra-rare variants are enriched within regulatory regions, particularly promoters, suggesting that gene expression patterns may diverge relatively rapidly in human isolates.

Project: Breeding Biology of Male Southern Elephant Seals (Mirounga leonine) at South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Project No. 44 2002-2004

ENGLISH Project in cooperation with Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA

The Southern elephant seal is a polygynous, sexual dimorphic species in which males are 4 -10 times greater than females. Males begin to arrive at the start of the breeding season and fight each other in areas where females will settle to give birth. When pregnant females begin to arrive, they gather in groups called harems. The result of the encounters between males is a dominance hierarchy at each breeding area, which reduces access to the grouped females to the highest-ranking males, thus allowing them to increase their breeding success. Male size is an important variable to take into account in this social structure; however, additional factors such as prior residence at the breeding area, male age, and time spent on the beach could also be variables that affect male social rank in the dominance hierarchy and thus male breeding success.

By combining different techniques (paternity analyses, body measurements, daily censuses) we propose to study the breeding biology of southern elephant seals at Stranger Point, King George Island, identifying potential different strategies displayed by males to increase their breeding success.

SPANISH Biologia reproductiva de machos de elefante marino del sur (Mirounga leonina) en las Islas Shetland del Sur, Antartica. (Proyecto en cooperacion con la Universidad Nacional de La Plata) Director: Lic. Alejandro Carlini Co-Director: ---

Resumen del Proyecto: El elefante marino del sur es una especie poligamica y sexualmente dimorfica en la cual los machos son entre 4 y 10 veces mas pesados que las hembras. Durante la estacion reproductiva los machos adultos compiten por el acceso a las hembras y como resultado de esta competencia se establece una jerarquizacion de los individuos dentro y en las proximidades de los harenes. El tamano parece ser una variable de gran importancia en dicha jerarquizacion pero otros factores, entre ellos el arribo temprano a la colonia, la edad y el tiempo de permanencia tambien podrian afectarla y por lo tanto hacer lo propio con el exito reproductivo. Ademas es posible que machos de diferentes jerarquias adopten distintas estrategias con el objeto de maximizar la probabilidad de fecundar hembras.

Combinando diferentes metodologias (analisis de paternidad por microsatelites, medidas corporales, analisis de sonogramas y monitoreos periodicos a lo largo de la estacion reproductiva) se propone estudiar la biolog?a reproductiva de los machos de la especie, en la colonia situada en Punta Stranger, Isla 25 de Mayo, a fin de identificar las posibles estrategias individuales empleadas por ellos para maximizar su exito reproductivo.

This dataset includes information on native eyebright plants (Euphrasia, Orobanchaceae) studied and measured at a range of sites across Britain and Ireland, with a special sampling focus on Fair Isle (Shetland, Scotland). Attributes measured are location information (Euphrasia species, coordinates and population description), individual plant trait data (including measures of floral and vegetative traits) and genome sizes. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/0a77d3b5-03ce-4a14-ab2d-acc4aa7bd0ef

Monitoring of the fauna and flora of specified areas around the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal has been carried out between 1978 and 1984 to add to the information on the flora and fauna of the rocky shores in the area. Cardium (=Cerastoderma) edule shell parameters and population changes have been studied as indicators of changes in the area, whether pollution induced or natural.

Dundee City's crime rate of *** crimes per 10,000 people was the highest of any region of Scotland in 2023/24. The rate for the whole of Scotland was *** per 10,000 people, which appears to be driven by low crime in places such as the Orkney and Shetland Islands, with almost all Scottish cities reporting higher than average crime rates. In Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, the crime rate was *** crimes per 10,000 people, while in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, the crime rate was *** per 10,000 population. Comparisons with the rest of the UK When compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, Scotland has experienced a noticeable decline in its overall crime rate. In 2008/09 for example, Scotland's crime rate was higher than that of England and Wales, as well as Northern Ireland, the other two jurisdictions in the UK. In 2022/23, however, Scotland's crime rate was the lowest in the UK, with the crime rate in England and Wales rising noticeably during the same period. Scotland's homicide rate has also fallen, from being the highest in the UK in 2002/03, to the lowest as of 2022/23. Theft and fraud drive recent crime uptick There was a slight increase in the number of crimes recorded by the Scottish police in 2023/24, when compared with the previous year. Although many other types of crimes declined during this reporting year, the number of theft offences has increased, reaching ******* offences in 2023/24. Fraud crime has also increased significantly in recent years, with ****** offences in 2022/23, compared with just ***** in 2014/15. The recent uptick in fraud and theft offences is also reflected in the jurisdiction England and Wales.

ENGLISH

Project PICTA 09 2004-2007

The Project deals with different aspects of the ecology (trophic position, reproduction, age and growth, interaction with predators) of the Antarctic ichthyofauna in the Scotia Arc (South Georgia Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands and west Antarctic Peninsula). The fish species studied belong to the endemic Antarctic Suborder Notothenioidei; most of them have been or are presently object of commercial exploitation. These are the patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides, the mackerel ice fish Champsocephalus gunnari and the Antarctic cods Notothenia rossii, Gobionotothen gibberifrons and N. coriiceps, among others. Another subject developed by the Project is the monitoring of demersal fish at inshore sites of the South Shetland Islands, to evaluate the impact of the former offshore commercial fishery in the area in the late 1970s. Effect of long term shore-based sampling programs on near-shore fish populations. Predator-prey interaction between the Antarctic Shag Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis and demersal fish of the area, including species that have been commercially exploited in the past. The scope of the Project is in line with the aims of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

The present is continuation of the long-term project explained CDA_AR_ECOLOGY_ANTARCTIC_FISH with the aggregate of the theme "predatory interaction prey between cormorants and demersal fish". The name of the previous Project is: Ecology of Antarctic fish of the Arch of Scotia (Islands Georgia Southern, Orcadas Southern and Antarctic Peninsula). The Doctor R. Casaux, was a Co-Director of the same.In the present Project, he is included in the title "Impact of the commercial fishery" because this theme is not fit in inside "general Ecology" and besides, by the importance that the same one has acquired in recent years.