Expanding the Horizons of Sclerochronology: New Perspectives for Life History and Environmental Monitoring
Article proposals due 30 September 2023
Manuscripts due 31 March 2024
We are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for a special issue presenting advances in sclerochronology research and its applications in aquatic systems. Sclerochronology is the study of physical, chemical and structural variations in the accretionary hard tissues of organisms, such as mollusc shells, coral skeletons, fish otoliths, statoliths and cuttlebones of cephalopods, bones and teeth of vertebrates, and the temporal context in which they formed. Drawing on the growth patterns of hard tissues, sclerochronology seeks to deduce organismal life history traits as well as to reconstruct records of environmental and climatic change at temporal scales ranging from days to decades. The International Sclerochronology Conference has been held since 2007, contributing to community interaction and the advancement of sclerochronology research. In 2023, the 6th International Sclerochronology Conference was convened in Tokyo, Japan.
To promote the management and protection of natural environments as well as the sustainable use of ecosystem services, a deeper understanding of environmental fluctuations and their interactions with organisms is crucial. Sclerochronology provides a unique approach to unravel these complexities. It integrates various scientific disciplines and continues to propose new forms of measurement and analysis.
This special journal issue aims to bring together researchers from diverse backgrounds to contribute their insights and recent findings in the field of sclerochronology. We invite submissions that explore a wide range of topics, including but not limited to:
- Environmental monitoring: Investigating the use of sclerochronology as a tool for monitoring environmental changes with a high temporal resolution. This includes studies on the impact of climate change, pollution and other environmental factors on the growth and composition of hard tissues, with applications in modern contexts.
- Ecology, fisheries and aquaculture: Examining the application of sclerochronology in understanding ecological processes, fisheries management as well as aquaculture methods and practices. Topics of interest include the use of hard tissues to study population structure and dynamics, movement, physiological and trophic ecology, seafood provenance, and environmental impact assessment based on field observations or rearing experiments.
- Proxy development: We encourage papers that focus on the development of new or refinement of existing proxies to understand environmental changes and the ecology of organisms from the past to the present.
- Biomineralization: Investigating the mechanisms, processes and evolution involved in the formation of hard tissues in organisms. We welcome submissions that explore the biomineralization mechanisms and evolution (e.g., crystallographic and molecular biological approaches), and their implications for sclerochronology research, such as the reconstruction of environmental changes.
This special issue is open to everyone who is interested in these topics in sclerochronology research, and topics relevant to the 6th International Sclerochronology are especially welcome. Contributions should fit to the scope of Limnology and Oceanography Letters (click to view) and will be assessed by guest editors and invited external referees with the same level of rigor as regular journal submissions. Research Articles are short (max 3000 word), letters-formatted articles. Data Articles, Essays, and longer Current Evidence articles will also be considered for submission.
Please email Kozue Nishida (6thisc2022@gmail.com) using the subject line “LOL proposal” to submit a short manuscript proposal so that the suitability of your work for this special issue can be determined. This should include the title, authors, and a 200 word (maximum) outline of the proposed paper. Paper proposals must be submitted by 30 September 2023 and the deadline for manuscript submission is 31 March 2024. Manuscripts may be submitted any time after receiving notification of proposal acceptance. Accepted papers will be published online in Early View with a permanent DOI upon acceptance. All articles are open access, and the publication cost is $2560 for ASLO members and $3200 for non-members. The membership cost is only $30 for students and emeritus scientists, $50 for Early Career Scientists, and no cost for students from developing countries. Waivers and discounts of article publication charges are available to corresponding authors based in low- and lower middle-income countries and locations. Details are available here.
Please note the journal’s data-publication requirement, detailed here.
Special Issue Guest Editors:
– Kozue Nishida (University of Tsukuba) nishida.kozue.fw@u.tsukuba.ac.jp
– Melita Peharda (Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries) melita@izor.hr
– Bernd R. Schöne (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) bernd.schoene@uni-mainz.de
– Clive Trueman (University of Southampton) trueman@soton.ac.uk
– Ming-Tsung Chung (National Taiwan University) mingtsungchung@ntu.edu.tw