Microplastics and low tide warming: Metabolic disorders in intertidal Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas).

Sessile intertidal organisms live in a harsh environment with challenging environmental conditions and increasing anthropogenic pressure such as microplastic (MP) pollution. This study focused on effects of environmentally relevant MP concentrations on the metabolism of intertidal Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, and its potential MP-induced vulnerability to warming during midday low tide. Oysters experienced a simulated semidiurnal tidal cycle based on their natural habitat, and were exposed to a mixture of polystyrene microbeads (4, 7.

Characterizing offshore polar ocean soundscapes using ecoacoustic intensity and diversity metrics.

Polar offshore environments are considered the last pristine soundscapes, but accelerating climate change and increasing human activity threaten their integrity. In order to assess the acoustic state of polar oceans, there is the need to investigate their soundscape characteristics more holistically. We apply a set of 14 ecoacoustic metrics (EAMs) to identify which metrics are best suited to reflect the characteristics of disturbed and naturally intact polar offshore soundscapes.

A belly full of jelly? DNA metabarcoding shows evidence for gelatinous zooplankton predation by several fish species in Greenland waters.

The waters of Greenland harbour a high species richness and biomass of gelatinous zooplankton (GZP); however, their role in the diet of the many fish species, including commercially exploited species, has not yet been verified. Traditionally, GZP was considered to be a trophic dead end, i.e.

Tracking gonadal development in fish: An in vivo MRI study on polar cod, Boreogadus saida (Lepechin, 1774).

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was applied to determine the sex of polar cod (Boreogadus saida Lepechin, 1774) (Actinopterygii: Gadidae) and to follow the gonadal development in individual animals over time. Individual unanaesthetised fish were transferred to a measurement chamber inside a preclinical 9.4 T MRI scanner and continuously perfused with aerated seawater.

Screening the release of chemicals and microplastic particles from diverse plastic consumer products into water under accelerated UV weathering conditions.

Photodegradation of plastic consumer products is known to accelerate weathering and facilitate the release of chemicals and plastic particles into the aquatic environment. However, these processes are complex. In our presented pilot study, eight plastic consumer products were leached in distilled water under strong ultraviolet (UV) light simulating eight months of Central European climate and compared to their respective dark controls (DCs).

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Decline: Tipping Small Scales under Global Warming.

The Atlantic circulation is a key component of the global ocean conveyor that transports heat and nutrients worldwide. Its likely weakening due to global warming has implications for climate and ecology. However, the expected changes remain largely uncertain as low-resolution climate models currently in use do not resolve small scales.

Intergenerational effects of ocean temperature variation: Early life benefits are short-lived in threespine stickleback.

Current climate change models predict an increase in temperature variability and extreme events such as heatwaves, and organisms need to cope with consequent changes to environmental variation. Non-genetic inheritance mechanisms can enable parental generations to prime their offspring's abilities to acclimate to environmental change-but they may also be deleterious. When parents are exposed to predictable environments, intergenerational plasticity can lead to better offspring trait performance in matching environments.

Direct and indirect cumulative effects of temperature, nutrients, and light on phytoplankton growth.

Temperature and resource availability are pivotal factors influencing phytoplankton community structures. Numerous prior studies demonstrated their significant influence on phytoplankton stoichiometry, cell size, and growth rates. The growth rate, serving as a reflection of an organism's success within its environment, is linked to stoichiometry and cell size.

Ecological genomics in the Northern krill uncovers loci for local adaptation across ocean basins.

Krill are vital as food for many marine animals but also impacted by global warming. To learn how they and other zooplankton may adapt to a warmer world we studied local adaptation in the widespread Northern krill (Meganyctiphanes norvegica). We assemble and characterize its large genome and compare genome-scale variation among 74 specimens from the colder Atlantic Ocean and warmer Mediterranean Sea.

Musseling through: Mytilus byssal thread production is unaffected by continuous noise.

Anthropogenic low-frequency noise (ALFN) is a rising pollutant in the world oceans. Despite the ubiquity of ALFN, its effect on marine invertebrates is still poorly understood. Here, we tested how continuous low-frequency noise (CLFN), a substantial component of ALFN, affects the byssal thread production of Mytilus, a cosmopolitan genus of mussels with high ecological and economic importance.

Holocene thinning in central Greenland controlled by the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream.

Ice-core records from the interior of the Greenland ice sheet suggest widespread thinning during the Holocene. However, the recurring underestimation of this thinning in numerical models raises concerns about both the veracity of such reconstructions and the reliability of glaciological models. Recent work suggests the 8000-year-old Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS), including a now-extinct northern tributary, may have been an early influence on Greenland ice-sheet dynamics.

A proposal in Brazil to use generative AI in education threatens quality and equity.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is considered one of the most revolutionary technological developments today. But can it replace teachers in education? A new proposal in São Paulo, Brazil, suggests this might be possible, but it raises significant concerns about educational quality and equity.

A new Activity Monitor for Aquatic Zooplankter (AMAZE) allows the recording of swimming activity in wild-caught Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba).

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba, hereafter krill) is a pelagic living crustacean and a key species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Krill builds up a huge biomass and its synchronized behavioral patterns, such as diel vertical migration (DVM), substantially impact ecosystem structure and carbon sequestration. However, the mechanistic basis of krill DVM is unknown and previous studies of krill behavior in the laboratory were challenged by complex behavior and large variability.

Upland Yedoma taliks are an unpredicted source of atmospheric methane.

Landscape drying associated with permafrost thaw is expected to enhance microbial methane oxidation in arctic soils. Here we show that ice-rich, Yedoma permafrost deposits, comprising a disproportionately large fraction of pan-arctic soil carbon, present an alternate trajectory. Field and laboratory observations indicate that talik (perennially thawed soils in permafrost) development in unsaturated Yedoma uplands leads to unexpectedly large methane emissions (35-78 mg m d summer, 150-180 mg m d winter).

Manganese reduction and associated microbial communities in Antarctic surface sediments.

The polar regions are the fastest warming places on earth. Accelerated glacial melting causes increased supply of nutrients such as metal oxides (i.e.

Time me by the moon : The evolution and function of lunar timing systems.

The moon has significant impact on the timing of organisms. Can the study of molecular timing mechanisms of marine animals and algae help to understand some of the “weird” correlations between human physiological/behavioral rhythms and the lunar cycle? [Image: see text]

Recent advances in recirculating aquaculture systems and role of microalgae to close system loop.

In recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), waste management of nutrient-rich byproducts accounts for 30-50% of the whole production costs. Integrating microalgae into RAS offers complementary solutions for transforming waste streams into valuable co-products. This review aims to provide an overview of recent advances in microalgae application to enhance RAS performance and derive value from all waste streams by using RAS effluents as microalgal nutrient sources.

Adaptive adjustment of significance thresholds produces large gains in microbial gene annotations and metabolic insights.

Gene function annotations enable microbial ecologists to make inferences about metabolic potential from genomes and metagenomes. However, even tools that use the same database and general approach can differ markedly in the annotations they recover. We compare three popular methods for identifying KEGG Orthologs, applying them to genomes drawn from a range of bacterial families that occupy different host-associated and free-living biomes.

Changes in the composition of invertebrate assemblages from wave-exposed intertidal mussel stands along the Nova Scotia coast, Canada.

Rocky intertidal habitats occur worldwide and are mainly characterized by primary space holders such as seaweeds and sessile invertebrates. Some of these organisms are foundation species, as they can form structurally complex stands that host many small invertebrates. The abundance of primary space holders is known to vary along coastlines driven directly or indirectly by environmental variation.

Global biogeographic regions for ants have complex relationships with those for plants and tetrapods.

On a global scale, biodiversity is geographically structured into regions of biotic similarity. Delineating these regions has been mostly targeted for tetrapods and plants, but those for hyperdiverse groups such as insects are relatively unknown. Insects may have higher biogeographic congruence with plants than tetrapods due to their tight ecological and evolutionary links with the former, but it remains untested.

Warming effects on the life cycles of two parasitic copepods with different invasion histories.

Climate change may exacerbate the impact of invasive parasites from warmer climates through pre-existing temperature adaptations. We investigated temperature impacts on two closely related marine parasitic copepod species that share the blue mussel () as host: has invaded the system from a warmer climate <20 years ago, whereas its established congener has had >90 years to adapt. In laboratory experiments with temperatures 10-26°C, covering current and future temperatures as well as heat waves, the development of both life cycle stages of both species accelerated with increasing temperature.

Kelp forest community structure and demography in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard) across 25 years of Arctic warming.

The Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is a hotspot of global warming and many fjords experience a continuous increase in seawater temperature and glacial melt while sea-ice cover declines. In 1996/1998, 2012-2014, and 2021 macroalgal biomass and species diversity were quantified at the study site Hansneset, Kongsfjorden (W-Spitsbergen) in order to identify potential changes over time. In 2021, we repeated the earlier studies by stratified random sampling (1 × 1 m,  = 3) along a sublittoral depth transect (0, 2.

Methane plume detection after the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosion in the Baltic Sea.

On September 26th, 2022, the detonations at the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 resulted in some of the largest non-natural releases of methane known. The distribution of methane in the surrounding seawater and the possible effects were not apparent. To trace the pathways of methane we recorded CH concentrations and the isotopic signal (δC-CH) in seawater, and air.

Transition from a mixotrophic/heterotrophic protist community during the dark winter to a photoautotrophic spring community in surface waters of Disko Bay, Greenland.

Unicellular eukaryotic plankton communities (protists) are the major basis of the marine food web. The spring bloom is especially important, because of its high biomass. However, it is poorly described how the protist community composition in Arctic surface waters develops from winter to spring.

A somatic genetic clock for clonal species.

Age and longevity are key parameters for demography and life-history evolution of organisms. In clonal species, a widespread life history among animals, plants, macroalgae and fungi, the sexually produced offspring (genet) grows indeterminately by producing iterative modules, or ramets, and so obscure their age. Here we present a novel molecular clock based on the accumulation of fixed somatic genetic variation that segregates among ramets.