Featured
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Global effects of marine protected areas on food security are unknown
- Enric Sala
- , Juan Mayorga
- & Boris Worm
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Article
| Open AccessReef-building corals farm and feed on their photosynthetic symbionts
Long-term experiments show that corals acquire dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus by feeding on symbiont cells, which provide essential nutrients enabling their success in nutrient-poor waters.
- Jörg Wiedenmann
- , Cecilia D’Angelo
- & Amatzia Genin
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Article
| Open AccessPersistent equatorial Pacific iron limitation under ENSO forcing
An assessment of variations in phytoplankton nutrient limitation in the tropical Pacific over the past two decades finds that phytoplankton iron limitation is more stable in response to ENSO dynamics than models predict.
- Thomas J. Browning
- , Mak A. Saito
- & Alessandro Tagliabue
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Article |
Krill body size drives particulate organic carbon export in West Antarctica
A multi-decadal sediment-trap time series reveals that the body size, not the abundance, of Antarctic krill drives the particulate organic carbon flux on the continental shelf of the West Antarctic Peninsula.
- Rebecca Trinh
- , Hugh W. Ducklow
- & William R. Fraser
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Quantifying the carbon benefits of ending bottom trawling
- Trisha B. Atwood
- , Enric Sala
- & Jane Lubchenco
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Article
| Open AccessMirusviruses link herpesviruses to giant viruses
A phylogeny-guided genome-resolved metagenomic analysis of DNA viruses in the ocean reveals atypical plankton-infecting relatives of herpesviruses that form a putative new phylum dubbed Mirusviricota.
- Morgan Gaïa
- , Lingjie Meng
- & Tom O. Delmont
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Article
| Open AccessCoastal phytoplankton blooms expand and intensify in the 21st century
Satellite observations reveal global increases in the extent and frequency of phytoplankton blooms between 2003 and 2020 and provide insights into the relationship between blooms, ocean circulation and sea surface temperature.
- Yanhui Dai
- , Shangbo Yang
- & Lian Feng
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Article
| Open AccessEnhanced silica export in a future ocean triggers global diatom decline
Mesocosm experiments in different biomes show that future ocean acidification will slow down the dissolution of biogenic silica, decreasing silicic acid availability in the surface ocean and triggering a global decline of diatoms as revealed by Earth system model simulations.
- Jan Taucher
- , Lennart T. Bach
- & Ulf Riebesell
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Article |
Expanding ocean food production under climate change
Sustainable mariculture could increase seafood production under almost all climate-change scenarios analysed, but this would require substantial fisheries reforms, continued advances in feed technology and the establishment of effective mariculture governance and best practices.
- Christopher M. Free
- , Reniel B. Cabral
- & Steven D. Gaines
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Article |
Chemotaxis shapes the microscale organization of the ocean’s microbiome
In situ experiments have demonstrated chemotaxis of marine bacteria and archaea towards specific phytoplankton-derived dissolved organic matter, which leads to microscale partitioning of biogeochemical transformation in the ocean.
- Jean-Baptiste Raina
- , Bennett S. Lambert
- & Justin R. Seymour
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Article
| Open AccessPossible poriferan body fossils in early Neoproterozoic microbial reefs
Vermiform microstructure in microbial reefs dating to approximately 890 million years ago resembles the body fossils of Phanerozoic demosponges, and may represent the earliest known physical evidence of animals.
- Elizabeth C. Turner
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Matters Arising |
Shark mortality cannot be assessed by fishery overlap alone
- Hilario Murua
- , Shane P. Griffiths
- & Victor Restrepo
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Shark mortality cannot be assessed by fishery overlap alone
- Nuno Queiroz
- , Nicolas E. Humphries
- & David W. Sims
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Caution over the use of ecological big data for conservation
- Nuno Queiroz
- , Nicolas E. Humphries
- & David W. Sims
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Matters Arising |
Methods matter in repeating ocean acidification studies
- Philip L. Munday
- , Danielle L. Dixson
- & Sue-Ann Watson
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Article |
Metabolic trait diversity shapes marine biogeography
A tight coupling between metabolic rate, efficacy of oxygen supply and the temperature sensitivities of marine animals predicts a variety of geographical niches that better aligns with the distributions of species than models of either temperature or oxygen alone.
- Curtis Deutsch
- , Justin L. Penn
- & Brad Seibel
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Article |
Emergent constraint on Arctic Ocean acidification in the twenty-first century
Sea surface density observations in the Arctic Ocean reveal a relationship between the present-day surface water density and the anthropogenic carbon inventory and coincident acidification, suggesting that recent acidification projections are underestimates.
- Jens Terhaar
- , Lester Kwiatkowski
- & Laurent Bopp
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Article |
Revealing enigmatic mucus structures in the deep sea using DeepPIV
Advanced deep-sea imaging tools yield insights into the structure and function of mucus filtration houses built by midwater giant larvaceans.
- Kakani Katija
- , Giancarlo Troni
- & Bruce H. Robison
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Review Article |
Rebuilding marine life
Analyses of the recovery of marine populations, habitats and ecosystems following past conservation interventions indicate that substantial recovery of the abundance, structure and function of marine life could be achieved by 2050 if major pressures, including climate change, are mitigated.
- Carlos M. Duarte
- , Susana Agusti
- & Boris Worm
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Article |
Recycling and metabolic flexibility dictate life in the lower oceanic crust
Analyses of microbial communities that live 10–750 m below the seafloor at Atlantis Bank, Indian Ocean, provide insights into how these microorganisms survive by coupling energy sources to organic and inorganic carbon resources.
- Jiangtao Li
- , Paraskevi Mara
- & Virginia P. Edgcomb
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Article |
Global satellite-observed daily vertical migrations of ocean animals
Satellite-derived analysis of daily vertical migrations of ocean animals shows that the relative abundance and total biomass of these animals differ between different regions globally, depending on the availability of food and necessity to avoid predators.
- Michael J. Behrenfeld
- , Peter Gaube
- & Scott C. Doney
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Perspective |
Sex and gender analysis improves science and engineering
The authors discuss the potential for sex and gender analysis to foster scientific discovery, improve experimental efficiency and enable social equality.
- Cara Tannenbaum
- , Robert P. Ellis
- & Londa Schiebinger
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Letter |
Harnessing global fisheries to tackle micronutrient deficiencies
Nutrient content analyses of marine finfish and current fisheries landings show that fish have the potential to substantially contribute to global food and nutrition security by alleviating micronutrient deficiencies in regions where they are prevalent.
- Christina C. Hicks
- , Philippa J. Cohen
- & M. Aaron MacNeil
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Article |
Global spatial risk assessment of sharks under the footprint of fisheries
A global dataset of the satellite-tracked movements of pelagic sharks and fishing fleets show that sharks—and, in particular, commercially important species—have limited spatial refuge from fishing effort.
- Nuno Queiroz
- , Nicolas E. Humphries
- & David W. Sims
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Letter |
Global change drives modern plankton communities away from the pre-industrial state
Seafloor-derived planktonic foraminifera communities of pre-industrial age are compared with communities from sediment-trap time series and show that Anthropocene communities of a globally distributed zooplankton group differ from their unperturbed pre-industrial state.
- Lukas Jonkers
- , Helmut Hillebrand
- & Michal Kucera
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Article |
Convergent estimates of marine nitrogen fixation
Convergent estimates of nitrogen fixation from an inverse biogeochemical and a prognostic ocean model show that biological carbon export in the ocean is higher than expected and that stabilizing nitrogen-cycle feedbacks are weaker than we thought.
- Wei-Lei Wang
- , J. Keith Moore
- & François W. Primeau
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Letter |
Contrasting processes drive ophiuroid phylodiversity across shallow and deep seafloors
Our knowledge of the distribution and evolution of deep-sea life is limited, impeding our ability to identify priority areas for conservation.
- Timothy D. O’Hara
- , Andrew F. Hugall
- & Nicholas J. Bax
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Letter |
The metabolite dimethylsulfoxonium propionate extends the marine organosulfur cycle
A structurally unusual zwitterionic metabolite, dimethylsulfoxonium propionate (DMSOP), is synthesized by several dimethylsulfoniopropionate-producing microalgae and marine bacteria and is readily metabolized into dimethylsulfoxide by marine bacteria, expanding our knowledge of the marine organosulfur cycle.
- Kathleen Thume
- , Björn Gebser
- & Georg Pohnert
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Letter |
Seabirds enhance coral reef productivity and functioning in the absence of invasive rats
Productivity of coral reefs is enhanced near islands with no invasive rats, as populations of seabirds, which transfer nitrogen from deeper areas of ocean to the nearshore waters via their guano, are much larger than on rat-infested islands.
- Nicholas A. J. Graham
- , Shaun K. Wilson
- & M. Aaron MacNeil
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Article |
Loss of coral reef growth capacity to track future increases in sea level
Analyses of current coral reef growth rates in the tropical western Atlantic and Indian Ocean show that few reefs will have the capacity to track sea-level rise projections under Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios without sustained ecological recovery.
- Chris T. Perry
- , Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
- & Chancey Macdonald
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Letter |
Global warming transforms coral reef assemblages
Acute heat stress from the extended marine heatwave of 2016 is a potent driver of the transformation of coral assemblages, which affects even the most remote and well-protected reefs of the Great Barrier Reef.
- Terry P. Hughes
- , James T. Kerry
- & Gergely Torda
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Letter |
Carbon dioxide addition to coral reef waters suppresses net community calcification
In situ carbon dioxide enrichment experiments show that ocean acidification poses a threat to coral reefs by reducing the saturation state of aragonite and the concentration of carbonate ions and that this impairs community calcification.
- Rebecca Albright
- , Yuichiro Takeshita
- & Ken Caldeira
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Letter |
Carbonate-sensitive phytotransferrin controls high-affinity iron uptake in diatoms
Phytotransferrin, a functional analogue of transferrin, has an obligate requirement for carbonate to bind iron, which suggests that acidification-driven declines in the concentration of seawater carbonate ions may negatively affect diatom iron acquisition.
- Jeffrey B. McQuaid
- , Adam B. Kustka
- & Andrew E. Allen
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Letter |
Nutrient co-limitation at the boundary of an oceanic gyre
Nutrient amendment experiments at the boundary of the South Atlantic gyre reveal extensive regions in which nitrogen and iron are co-limiting, with other micronutrients also approaching co-deficiency; such limitations potentially increase phytoplankton community diversity.
- Thomas J. Browning
- , Eric P. Achterberg
- & C. Mark Moore
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Outlook |
Sea change
The increasing acidity of our seas is a threat to marine life that for many species may be impossible to overcome.
- Sarah DeWeerdt
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Letter |
The rise of algae in Cryogenian oceans and the emergence of animals
Steroid biomarkers provide evidence for a rapid rise of marine planktonic algae between 659 and 645 million years ago, establishing more efficient energy transfers and driving ecosystems towards larger and increasingly complex organisms.
- Jochen J. Brocks
- , Amber J. M. Jarrett
- & Tharika Liyanage
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Article |
Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals
Aerial and underwater survey data combined with satellite-derived measurements of sea surface temperature over the past two decades show that multiple mass-bleaching events have expanded to encompass virtually all of the Great Barrier Reef.
- Terry P. Hughes
- , James T. Kerry
- & Shaun K. Wilson
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Letter |
Phytoplankton can actively diversify their migration strategy in response to turbulent cues
Here, marine phytoplankton are shown to diversify their migratory strategy in response to turbulent cues through a rapid change in shape, thus challenging a fundamental paradigm in oceanography that phytoplankton are passively at the mercy of ocean turbulence.
- Anupam Sengupta
- , Francesco Carrara
- & Roman Stocker
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Letter |
Ecogenomics and potential biogeochemical impacts of globally abundant ocean viruses
The assembly and analysis of complete genomes and large genomic fragments have tripled the number of known ocean viruses and uncovered the potentially important roles they play in nitrogen and sulfur cycling.
- Simon Roux
- , Jennifer R. Brum
- & Matthew B. Sullivan
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Article |
SAR11 bacteria linked to ocean anoxia and nitrogen loss
Bacteria of the SAR11 clade constitute up to one half of all marine microbes and are thought to require oxygen for growth; here, a subgroup of SAR11 bacteria are shown to thrive in ocean oxygen minimum zones and to encode abundant respiratory nitrate reductases.
- Despina Tsementzi
- , Jieying Wu
- & Frank J. Stewart
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Letter |
Deep-sea diversity patterns are shaped by energy availability
Depth-dependent patterns in ocean species diversity can be explained by latitudinal variations in energy availability, with shelf and upper-slope diversity increasing with thermal energy availability, and deep-sea diversity increasing with chemical energy availability; the discovery of these distinct patterns could help to guide the conservation and management of these remote ecosystems.
- Skipton N. C. Woolley
- , Derek P. Tittensor
- & Timothy D. O’Hara
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Letter |
Reversal of ocean acidification enhances net coral reef calcification
A manipulative experiment in which a reef is alkalinized in situ shows that calcification rates are likely to be lower already than they were in pre-industrial times because of acidification.
- Rebecca Albright
- , Lilian Caldeira
- & Ken Caldeira
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Article |
Plankton networks driving carbon export in the oligotrophic ocean
Plankton communities in the top 150 m of the nutrient-depleted, oligotrophic global ocean that are most associated with carbon export include unexpected taxa, such as Radiolaria, alveolate parasites, and Synechococcus and their phages, and point towards potential functional markers predicting a significant fraction of the variability in carbon export in these regions.
- Lionel Guidi
- , Samuel Chaffron
- & Gabriel Gorsky
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Letter |
A marine biogenic source of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles
The presence of ice in clouds can influence cloud lifetime, precipitation and radiative properties; here, organic material at the sea–air interface, possibly associated with phytoplankton cell exudates, is shown to nucleate ice under conditions relevant for ice cloud formation in the atmospheric environment.
- Theodore W. Wilson
- , Luis A. Ladino
- & Benjamin J. Murray
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News |
Sea urchins can cope with acidic waters
Genetic variability makes some marine organisms resilient to environmental change.
- Virginia Gewin
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Letter |
Oceanic nitrogen reservoir regulated by plankton diversity and ocean circulation
Here, the feedback between marine nitrogen fixation and denitrification is shown to yield an oceanic nitrate deficit more than double its observed value in a model with realistic ocean circulation; this discrepancy can be resolved by accounting for diversity in the metabolic N:P requirements of plankton.
- Thomas Weber
- & Curtis Deutsch
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News |
Tiny crustacean has terrific teeth
Elastic protein helps copepods munch through shells.
- Cosmas Butunyi
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Comment |
Save the Baltic Sea
Geoengineering efforts to bring oxygen into the deep Baltic should be abandoned, says Daniel J. Conley.
- Daniel J. Conley
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News |
James Cameron returns from the deep
Technical troubles hamper sample collection on deep-sea dive.
- Mark Schrope