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Characterizing rocky intertidal biodiversity using environmental DNA metabarcoding from local to national scales
No full textEfficient and scalable methods for monitoring marine biodiversity are critical for understanding ecological change in coastal environments, given the limited resources available. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding shows promise for monitoring coastal taxa, but its ability to differentiate communities from different locations remains insufficiently understood, particularly in dynamic marine environments. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness and resolution capacity of eDNA metabarcoding in detecting rocky intertidal taxa across three spatial scales—national, regional, and local—in the United Kingdom. Onshore surface-water samples were collected from 32 sites across five UK Regional Seas from rockpools in high and low shore zones, as well as directly from the sea. We detected 1026 target taxa within 442 families and 19 phyla using two established markers targeting invertebrates (COI) and macroalgae (18S). Distinct eDNA signals were found at all spatial scales, indicating local discreteness even between vertical shore heights within the same sites. Communities were more discrete at larger scales (i.e., between regions) than at smaller scales (i.e., between shore heights). eDNA signals were more strongly structured by geographical location than by vertical shore height as a probable consequence of greater DNA homogenization over the tidal cycle at smaller spatial scales. Established ecological zonation patterns were reflected in eDNA signals, with higher richness at lower shore heights, reflecting abiotic stress gradients. Detections of cold-affinity boreal species increased with latitude, while warm-affinity lusitanian species declined with latitude. Our work supports the utility of eDNA metabarcoding for multiscale biodiversity monitoring in dynamic marine environments and for detections beyond this study's target taxa. We recommend the adoption of scale-appropriate sampling protocols to optimize the benefits of eDNA, such as prioritizing open water sampling at high tide for broad-scale assessments and rockpool sampling at low tide for capturing local-scale patterns. Future work should validate detections through direct visual comparison
Sensing human health from Space: An assessment of applications and big data platforms
Full text linkThe integration of Earth Observation (EO) into human health research has expanded significantly, particularly since 2009, highlighting its potential for disease modelling, environmental exposure assessment, and public health decision-making. This review explores the evolving role of EO in health applications through a bibliometric analysis of 1751 research documents retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database. These documents were selected using targeted keywords and after excluding non-primary literature such as reviews, editorials, and meeting abstracts. Findings revealed a substantial increase in EO-health research outputs, growing from 2 publications in 1991 to 266 in 2024, with a notable surge beginning in 2009. More than 65 % of the selected studies contributed to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on Climate Action, followed by SDG 3 on Good Health and Wellbeing (n = 994) and SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities (n = 980), illustrating EO's cross-cutting relevance. Despite this growth, the field remains fragmented due to inconsistent data formats, limited accessibility, and weak interdisciplinary collaboration. A key challenge is the persistent divide between EO data producers and health practitioners, which hampers the effective translation of EO insights into practice. This review highlights the importance of co-production approaches that bring together researchers, policymakers, and communities to address these barriers. By promoting standardisation, enhancing data interoperability, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, EO can be more effectively leveraged to support disease surveillance, environmental health monitoring, and evidence-based policy interventions aligned with global health and sustainability goals
Characterizing organisms from three domains of life with universal primers from throughout the global ocean
Full text linkWe introduce the Global rRNA Universal Metabarcoding Plankton database (GRUMP), which consists of 1194 samples that were collected from 2003–2020 and cover extensive latitudinal and longitudinal transects, as well as depth profiles in all major ocean basins. DNA from unfractionated (>0.2 µm) seawater samples was amplified using the 515Y/926 R universal three-domain rRNA gene primers, simultaneously quantifying the relative abundance of amplicon sequencing variants (ASVs) from bacteria, archaea, eukaryotic nuclear 18S, and eukaryotic plastid 16S. Thus, the ratio between taxa in one sample is directly comparable to the ratio in any other GRUMP sample, regardless of gene copy number differences. This obviates a problem in prior global studies that used size-fractionation and different rRNA gene primers for bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes, precluding comparisons across size fractions or domains. On average, bacteria contributed 71%, eukaryotes 19%, and archaea 8% to rRNA gene abundance, though eukaryotes contributed 32% at latitudes >40°. GRUMP is publicly available on the Simons Collaborative Marine Atlas Project (CMAP), promoting the global comparison of marine microbial dynamics
Seafloor marine heatwaves outpace surface events in the future on the northwestern European shelf
Full text linkMarine heatwaves are becoming increasingly frequent across the world’s oceans. As a result, there are growing impacts on marine ecosystems due to temperatures exceeding the thermal niche and historical exposure of many species. Anticipating the future frequency and severity of
marine heatwaves is necessary. Here, we provide the first
projections of future marine heatwaves for the sea surface
and seafloor across the northwestern European shelf, which
is a critically important marine ecosystem. We use an ensemble of five dynamically downscaled hydrodynamic models under the high-emission scenario Representative concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP 8.5). Heatwaves were defined
as events lasting at least 5 d where temperatures exceed
the 90th percentile of a historical baseline period. The frequency of marine heatwaves at the surface and seafloor is
projected to increase significantly during the 21st century under RCP 8.5, with most of the year being projected to be under heatwave conditions by the end of the century. Critically, we find that marine heatwaves are projected to increase in frequency to a greater extent at the seafloor compared to at the sea surface due to their lower levels of natural temperature variation. Similarly, we find that the severity of summer heatwaves at the surface is projected to be lower than that of heatwaves during the rest of the year due to lower climatological variations in temperature outside the summer. The impacts of marine heatwaves in shelf seas are therefore likely to be much more complex than previously thought
Redefining the photic zone: beyond the autotroph-centric view of light in the ocean
Full text linkTraditional measures of the photic zone have remained focused on autotrophs, limiting understanding of how changing marine lightscapes impact heterotrophs that use light as a resource or an environmental cue. We propose a new photic zone definition that encompasses all biological processes influenced by celestial light, and a new measure of photic zone depth, the minimum light intensity that elicits biological responses. This approach allows photic zone measures to be inclusive of all marine photobiology driven by sunlight, moonlight, or starlight, and enables urgently needed exploration of the nature, extent and ecological implications of changing marine lightscapes
Mind the gap - The need to integrate novel plankton methods alongside ongoing long-term monitoring
Full text linkChanges in plankton have important implications for ecosystem services, including supporting fish stocks, carbon
sequestration, nutrient cycling, and oxygen production. Standard long-term plankton monitoring relies on light
microscopy to identify and count plankton taxa, with methods fully supported by international standards,
providing high quality trusted data. Novel methods, including imaging and molecular, offer means of collecting
select types of plankton data efficiently, filling targeted knowledge gaps left by standard monitoring and
generating a more complete picture of plankton dynamics. Standard and novel monitoring methods present
different advantages and costs, positioning their suitability to address different management needs. Standard
plankton monitoring time-series are unique in providing the long-term temporal coverage, and thus statistical
power, needed to detect and understand climate change impacts. When explored in parallel with standard
monitoring, novel methods open doors to observing our seas from complementary perspectives, but further work
is necessary before data from standard and novel methods can be integrated to address policy needs. Marine
management priorities are shifting, and novel methods are increasingly proposed as possible alternatives to
standard monitoring. However, for a long-term taxonomic perspective it is still essential to retain the specialist
skills and maintain standard monitoring time-series to inform policy assessments of important changes in pelagic
biodiversity. This review aims to inform readers of the value of long-term data, the importance of retaining
taxonomic skills and embracing novel methods for marine plankton monitoring to assess pelagic biodiversity. We
recommend strategies to maintain long-term monitoring whilst incorporating novel method
High‐Resolution Sensors Reveal Nitrate and Dissolved Silica Dynamics in an Arctic Fjord
Full text linkSubglacial weathering releases biologically important nutrients into meltwaters that have the potential to influence downstream ecosystems. There is a need to understand how accelerated glacial retreat could impact biogeochemical cycling in coastal regions in the near future. However, fjords—important gateways connecting the Greenland ice sheet and coastal oceans—are highly heterogeneous environments both in space and time. Here, we investigate temporal variability of nutrient dynamics in a glacier‐fed fjord (Nuup Kangerlua, Greenland) using a high resolution record of nitrate + nitrite (∑NOx) and dissolved silica (DSi), coupled with temperature and salinity, using submersible in situ sensors. During a 3‐month monitoring period (14th June to 13 September 2019), ∑NOx varied between 0.05 and 10.07 μM (±0.2 μM), whereas DSi varied between 0.35 and 14.98 μM (±0.5 μM). Both nutrients started low (following the spring bloom) and increased throughout the monitoring period. Several large peaks in both nutrients were observed, and these can largely be associated with meltwater runoff and upwelling events. Peaks in DSi were likely the direct result of glacial meltwater pulses, whereas elevated ∑NOx concentrations in the fjord system were likely the result of meltwater‐induced upwelling of marine sources. However, we did not observe a case of simple conservative mixing, suggesting that other processes in the fjord system (e.g., differential biological uptake and
remineralization) may decouple the relationship between the two nutrients. This data set was used to investigate
the biogeochemical impact of changes in glacier meltwater input throughout the melt season
Basking sharks of the Arctic Circle: year-long, high-resolution tracking data reveal wide thermal range and prey-driven vertical movements across habitats
No full textsub-zero temperatures, extending the known thermal tolerance of the species. High-resolution time series data from recovered PSATs enabled the use of advanced signal processing and gradient-based filtering techniques to investigate vertical movement patterns in relation to the physical and biological environment. In oceanic habitats, elevated use of the mesopelagic was observed together with diel vertical migration, whereas in shelf areas depth-use patterns were confined by topography and more variable, reflective of more dynamic hydrographic conditions and prey distributions. With zooplankton distributions being structured by ambient light, density gradients, and local topography, the alignment of frequented depths with isolumes, mixed layer depths, bathymetric contours, and bioluminescence events suggests these sharks actively track prey layers across diverse habitats.
Conclusions
Recorded eurythermy and behavioural plasticity suggest C. maximus to be well-adapted to dynamic ocean conditions. These traits may be critical for responding to the rapid climate-driven changes in the abiotic and biotic environments in high-latitudes, providing insights into how these endangered filter-feeders might navigate shifting ecosystem
COMPASS - User Guide for Chairs and Facilitators
Full text linkCOMPASS is a structured planning tool that guides
workshop participants through a step-by-step
process to co-design a strategic and actionable
plan for meaningful change. It helps identify
strengths, weaknesses, barriers, and opportunities
to develop a clear and logical path forward.
By integrating elements of Appreciative Inquiry,
Theory of Change, and SWOT analysis, COMPASS
provides a cohesive framework for effective impact
planning. Designed for collaborative workshops,
it facilitates co-development among key parties,
ensuring that the resulting plan is both practical
and aligned with shared goals. Developed by Jen Lockett and Dawn Ashby at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), COMPASS
was originally created as a research impact planning tool. It has been successfully tested for this purpose and has since proven valuable as a broader planning framework, such as for team development. COMPASS was designed with a nautical theme for a marine research setting but can be adapted to different topics. The elements are key to the process but the design can be adapted
The genome sequence of the butterfly blenny, Blennius ocellaris Linnaeus, 1758
No full textWe present a genome assembly from a specimen of Blennius ocellaris (the butterfly blenny; Chordata; Actinopteri; Blenniiformes; Blenniidae). The genome sequence spans 728.70 megabases. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 24 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 16.5 kilobases in lengt