Circumpolar and Regional Seascape Drivers of Genomic Variation in a Southern Ocean Octopus.

Understanding how ecological, environmental and geographic features influence population genetic patterns provides crucial insights into a species' evolutionary history, as well as their vulnerability or resilience under climate change. In the Southern Ocean, population genetic variation is influenced across multiple spatial scales ranging from circum-Antarctic, which encompasses the entire continent, to regional, with varying levels of geographic separation. However, comprehensive analyses testing the relative importance of different environmental and geographic variables on genomic variation across these scales are generally lacking in the Southern Ocean.

Chromosome-scale genome assembly of the tropical abalone (Haliotis asinina).

Abalone (family Haliotidae) are an ecologically and economically significant group of marine gastropods that can be found in tropical and temperate waters. To date, only a few Haliotis genomes are available, all belonging to temperate species. Here, we provide the first chromosome-scale abalone genome assembly and the first reference genome of the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina.

Genomic evidence for West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse during the Last Interglacial.

The marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered vulnerable to irreversible collapse under future climate trajectories, and its tipping point may lie within the mitigated warming scenarios of 1.5° to 2°C of the United Nations Paris Agreement. Knowledge of ice loss during similarly warm past climates could resolve this uncertainty, including the Last Interglacial when global sea levels were 5 to 10 meters higher than today and global average temperatures were 0.

Genomic insights of evolutionary divergence and life history innovations in Antarctic brittle stars.

Understanding the drivers of evolutionary innovation provides a crucial perspective of how evolutionary processes unfold across taxa and ecological systems. It has been hypothesised that the Southern Ocean provided ecological opportunities for novelty in the past. However, the drivers of innovation are challenging to pinpoint as the evolutionary genetics of Southern Ocean fauna are influenced by Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles, oceanic currents and species ecology.

Emerging biological archives can reveal ecological and climatic change in Antarctica.

Anthropogenic climate change is causing observable changes in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean including increased air and ocean temperatures, glacial melt leading to sea-level rise and a reduction in salinity, and changes to freshwater water availability on land. These changes impact local Antarctic ecosystems and the Earth's climate system. The Antarctic has experienced significant past environmental change, including cycles of glaciation over the Quaternary Period (the past ~2.

Is the Southern Ocean ecosystem primed for change or at the cliff edge?

The Southern Ocean is experiencing unprecedented environmental risks and consequences from current climate change. It is unclear how the benthic fauna, which has largely evolved in isolation, will respond to future changes. Knowing how the benthic fauna persisted through repeated extreme glacial-interglacial cycles in the past provides a unique opportunity to inform future predictions.

Evolutionary innovations in Antarctic brittle stars linked to glacial refugia.

The drivers behind evolutionary innovations such as contrasting life histories and morphological change are central questions of evolutionary biology. However, the environmental and ecological contexts linked to evolutionary innovations are generally unclear. During the Pleistocene glacial cycles, grounded ice sheets expanded across the Southern Ocean continental shelf.