Stavroula Kyritsi

Long-term fishery records are essential for detecting ecological change in data-limited freshwater systems. We analyzed 64 years (1961–2024) of commercial landings for ten fish categories from Lake Volvi, Greece, combining temporal, multivariate, forecasting and catch-only approaches. Total landings fell 89.8%, from 620 t in 1962 to 63.3 t in 2024. Six categories declined significantly after autocorrelation correction, whereas Gibel carp increased; excluding a documented reporting discontinuity left the decline and all diversity trends unchanged. Changepoints in landings (~1971, ~1978, ~2002) did not coincide with a compositional boundary at 1990/1991, so production decline and reorganization were not synchronous. Composition differed strongly among three a priori periods (PERMANOVA R² = 0.656, p = 0.001), reflecting a shift from native dominants to a low-production assemblage increasingly influenced by non-native Gibel carp; diversity increased while recorded richness showed no trend. Eight series yielded viable catch-only fits. Estimated terminal biomass lay below one-fifth of B_MSY for six, irrespective of terminal year, whereas exploitation ratios were strongly terminal-year dependent: five of eight changed Kobe quadrant between 2022 and 2024, owing to carried-forward values in the final two years. Severe depletion of the native taxa is therefore the robust stock-status finding; single-year exploitation classifications remain conditional on terminal year.

Climate change and increasing thermal pressure represent major long-term challenges for sheep production, particularly in climate-vulnerable regions and production systems. Heat stress can alter thermoregulatory, metabolic, endocrine, reproductive, oxidative, and immune responses, with consequences for animal health, welfare, and productive performance. This review critically evaluates current evidence on the biological and production-related consequences of heat stress in sheep and examines nutritional, genetic, environmental, health-management, and precision-monitoring approaches within a climate-resilience framework. The evidence indicates substantial variation in the magnitude and persistence of heat-stress responses according to breed or genotype, physiological and nutritional status, production system, and the intensity, duration, and timing of thermal exposure. Controlled studies provide important mechanistic insight, whereas field studies capture commercial complexity but are more strongly influenced by concurrent nutritional, climatic, health, and management factors. Nutritional, genetic, environmental, and precision-monitoring interventions offer opportunities to support adaptation, but their effectiveness and transferability across production systems require further validation. Improving climate resilience will therefore require context-specific combinations of complementary strategies rather than uniform solutions. Major research priorities include long-term field evaluation, improved comparability of heat-stress assessment, investigation of concurrent stressors, and evaluation of the practical and economic feasibility of adaptation and mitigation measures under commercial conditions.

This paper explores the intersection of digital technologies, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity conservation within the framework of the European Green Deal. The study investigates how intelligent agricultural practices—enabled by digital tools such as sensors, AI, and IoT—can enhance soil health and conserve agrobiodiversity. A systematic literature review was conducted to map out current research trajectories, identify the taxonomic focus areas in biodiversity monitoring, and assess the integration of digital tools. Results show a significant upward trend in publications linking digitalization and sustainability in agriculture. Findings highlight that pollinators and soil biota dominate monitoring focus, while technologies like remote sensing and AI show increasing adoption. The study concludes that intelligent agriculture offers a path toward ecological and economic resilience in rural landscapes, aligning with the EU’s green transition agenda.

The roach, Rutilus rutilus, is a Cyprinid which is widely distributed throughout freshwater systems in Europe. It is one of the most abundant and important commercial fish species in Greece. Age, growth, reproduction and fecundity of roach were studied in Lake Volvi from 1997-1998 females had higher growth in length (L∞=277.18 mm, k=0.097) than adult males (L∞=185.60 mm, k=0.148). All males older than one year and larger than 70 mm, and all females older than two years and larger than 80 mm were sexually mature. The breeding period spanned from the end of March till mid April. Fecundity ranged from 2,036 to 31,653 eggs (mean 8,102 eggs) and relative fecundity from 76.06 to 333.94 eggs/g (mean 186.78 eggs/g). Diameter of eggs were 1.3 ± 0.07 mm and weighted 0.0011 ± 0.0002 g . The weight of eggs were independent of length and age of individuals (P>0.05), however, there was a significant relationship between weight and egg diameter (P<0.05). Absolute fecundity depended on length, weight and age of the females. The relationship between absolute fecundity and length were less obvious in the case of relative fecundity and egg size. Estimated growth was at the lower end when compared with other studies conducted elsewhere.