Temperature-induced metabolic performance in early life stages of two brachyuran crabs.

Understanding marine species' metabolic responses to short- and long-term temperature variation is critical for predicting the resilience of communities and ecosystems at local and global scales. This study investigated the effect of temperature on the routine metabolic rate (RMR) across the zoea and megalopa stages of two brachyuran species, Hymenosoma orbiculare and Pinnotheres sp. Respirometry results under temperatures ranging from 11 to 25 °C revealed stage- and species-specific metabolic responses.

The genome sequence of the China Limpet, Gmelin, 1791 (Patellidae).

We present a genome assembly from a specimen of (China Limpet; Mollusca; Gastropoda; Patellidae). The genome sequence has a total length of 693.56 megabases.

Hindsight informs foresight: revisiting millennial forecasts of impacts and status of rocky shores in 2025.

Rocky shorelines are characterised by vulnerability to both land- and sea-derived impacts. They face acute impacts such as pollution from shipping accidents, chronic pollution from point sources, run-off and catchments plus disturbances by food gathering, recreation and sediment deposition in sheltered areas. Coastal urbanisation can both impact natural shores and create impoverished artificial rocky shores.

Scaling up eco-engineering: The role of topographic complexity and spatial variability in shaping biodiversity on coastal structures.

In response to the depauperate biodiversity often associated with the largely homogenous surfaces of artificial structures, ecological (eco-) engineering has emerged as a tool to introduce topographic complexity to coastal development. Although relatively small-scale studies using topographically complex panels and artificial rockpools are commonplace, determining how the configuration of these interventions works over greater and more realistic spatial scales has received comparatively little attention. Given the importance of spatial variability in habitat complexity for shaping community composition and, therefore, regional diversity, filling this knowledge gap is key to enhancing the 'design catalogue' for future eco-engineering installations.

Ecosystem engineers enhance the multifunctionality of an urban novel ecosystem: Population persistence and ecosystem resilience since the 1980s.

In degraded urban habitats, nature-based solutions aim to enhance ecosystem functioning and service provision. Bivalves are increasingly reintroduced to urban environments to enhance water quality through biofiltration, yet their long-term sustainability remains uncertain. Following the restoration of the disused South Docks in Liverpool in the 1980s, natural colonization of mussels rapidly improved dock-basin water quality and supported diverse taxa, including other filter feeders.

Multi-generational dispersal and dynamic patch occupancy reveals spatial and temporal stability of seascapes.

The success of non-native species (NNS) invasions depends on patterns of dispersal and connectivity, which underpin genetic diversity, population establishment and growth. In the marine environment, both global environmental change and increasing anthropogenic activity can alter hydrodynamic patterns, leading to significant inter-annual variability in dispersal pathways. Despite this, multi-generational dispersal is rarely explicitly considered in attempts to understand NNS spread or in the design of management interventions.

Scale-dependent topographic complexity underpins abundance and spatial distribution of ecosystem engineers on natural and artificial structures.

In response to ongoing coastal urbanization, it is critical to develop effective methods to improve the biodiversity and ecological sustainability of artificial shorelines. Enhancing the topographic complexity of coastal infrastructure through the mimicry of natural substrata may facilitate the establishment of ecosystem engineering species and associated biogenic habitat formation. However, interactions between ecosystem engineers and their substratum are likely determined by organismal size and resource needs, thus making responses to topography highly scale-dependent.

Topography-based modulation of environmental factors as a mechanism for intertidal microhabitat formation: A basis for marine ecological design.

Topographic complexity is often considered to be closely associated with habitat complexity and niche diversity; however, complex topography per se does not imply habitat suitability. Rather, ecologically suitable habitats may emerge if topographic features interact with environmental factors and thereby alter their surrounding microenvironment to the benefit of local organisms (e.g.

Complexity-functioning relationships differ across different environmental conditions.

Habitat complexity is widely considered an important determinant of biodiversity, and enhancing complexity can play a key role in restoring degraded habitats. However, the effects of habitat complexity on ecosystem functioning - as opposed to biodiversity and community structure - are relatively poorly understood for artificial habitats, which dominate many coastlines. With Greening of Grey Infrastructure (GGI) approaches, or eco-engineering, increasingly being applied around the globe, it is important to understand the effects that modifying habitat complexity has on both biodiversity and ecological functioning in these highly modified habitats.

Developing expert scientific consensus on the environmental and societal effects of marine artificial structures prior to decommissioning.

Thousands of artificial ('human-made') structures are present in the marine environment, many at or approaching end-of-life and requiring urgent decisions regarding their decommissioning. No consensus has been reached on which decommissioning option(s) result in optimal environmental and societal outcomes, in part, owing to a paucity of evidence from real-world decommissioning case studies. To address this significant challenge, we asked a worldwide panel of scientists to provide their expert opinion.

To what extent can decommissioning options for marine artificial structures move us toward environmental targets?

Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is key to international energy transition efforts and the move toward net zero. For many nations, this requires decommissioning of hundreds of oil and gas infrastructure in the marine environment. Current international, regional and national legislation largely dictates that structures must be completely removed at end-of-life although, increasingly, alternative decommissioning options are being promoted and implemented.

Victim of changes? Marine macroalgae in a changing world.

Background: Marine macroalgae ('seaweeds') are a diverse and globally distributed group of photosynthetic organisms that together generate considerable primary productivity, provide an array of different habitats for other organisms, and contribute many important ecosystem functions and services. As a result of continued anthropogenic stress on marine systems, many macroalgal species and habitats face an uncertain future, risking their vital contribution to global productivity and ecosystem service provision.

Scope: After briefly considering the remarkable taxonomy and ecological distribution of marine macroalgae, we review how the threats posed by a combination of anthropogenically induced stressors affect seaweed species and communities.

The north-south divide? Macroalgal functional trait diversity and redundancy varies with intertidal aspect.

Background And Aims: Marine macroalgae ('seaweeds') are critical to coastal ecosystem structure and function, but also vulnerable to the many environmental changes associated with anthropogenic climate change (ACC). The local habitat conditions underpinning observed and predicted ACC-driven changes in intertidal macroalgal communities are complex and probably site-specific and operate in addition to more commonly reported regional factors such as sea surface temperatures.

Methods: We examined how the composition and functional trait expression of macroalgal communities in SW England varied with aspect (i.

Invasive macroalgae in native seagrass beds: vectors of spread and impacts.

Background And Aims: Worldwide, invasive species are spreading through marine systems at an unprecedented rate with both positive and negative consequences for ecosystems and the biological functioning of organisms. Human activities from shipping to habitat damage and modification are known vectors of spread, although biological interactions including epibiosis are increasingly recognized as potentially important to introduction into susceptible habitats.

Methods: We assessed a novel mechanism of spread - limpets as transporters of an invasive alga, Sargassum muticum, into beds of the seagrass Zostera marina - and the physiological impact of its invasion.

Make a difference: Choose artificial reefs over natural reefs to compensate for the environmental impacts of dive tourism.

In the marine environment, natural reef habitats are amongst the most threatened by human activities. Although reef-based ecotourism can benefit local economies, dive tourism can damage sensitive habitats. One solution to managing conflicts between the economic value of diving and its ecological threats is the deployment of artificial reefs near popular dive sites.

Metrics matter: Multiple diversity metrics at different spatial scales are needed to understand species diversity in urban environments.

Worldwide, natural habitats are being replaced by artificial structures due to urbanisation. Planning of such modifications should strive for environmental net gain that benefits biodiversity and ecosystems. Alpha (α) and gamma (γ) diversity are often used to assess 'impact' but are insensitive metrics.

Science paper or big data? Assessing invasion dynamics using observational data.

Non-native species are spreading at an unprecedented rate over large spatial scales, with global environmental change and growth in commerce providing novel opportunities for range expansion. Assessing the pattern and rate of spread is key to the development of strategies for safeguarding against future invasions and efficiently managing existing ones. Such assessments often depend on spatial distribution data from online repositories, which can be spatially biased, imprecise, and lacking in quantity.

Epibionts provide their basibionts with associational resistance to predation but at a cost.

Epibiosis is increasingly considered a survival strategy in space-limited environments. However, epibionts can create a new interface between its host, environment and potential predators which may alter predator-prey relationships and biological functioning. Ex-situ experiments investigated the potential costs and benefits of epibiont barnacles on mortality and feeding rate of the mussel, Mytilus edulis, and its predator, the whelk Nucella lapillus.

Applying landscape metrics to species distribution model predictions to characterize internal range structure and associated changes.

Distributional shifts in species ranges provide critical evidence of ecological responses to climate change. Assessments of climate-driven changes typically focus on broad-scale range shifts (e.g.

Environmental optima for an ecosystem engineer: a multidisciplinary trait-based approach.

A complex interplay of biotic and abiotic factors underpins the distribution of species and operates across different levels of biological organization and life history stages. Understanding ecosystem engineer reproductive traits is critical for comprehending and managing the biodiversity-rich habitats they create. Little is known about how the reproduction of the reef-forming worm, Sabellaria alveolata, varies across environmental gradients.

On the diversity and distribution of a data deficient habitat in a poorly mapped region: The case of Sabellaria alveolata L. in Ireland.

Data that can be used to monitor biodiversity through time are essential for conservation and management. The reef-forming worm, Sabellaria alveolata (L. 1767) is currently classed as 'Data Deficient' due to an imbalance in the spread of data on its distribution.

Foul-weather friends: Modelling thermal stress mitigation by symbiotic endolithic microbes in a changing environment.

Temperature extremes are predicted to intensify with climate change. These extremes are rapidly emerging as a powerful driver of species distributional changes with the capacity to disrupt the functioning and provision of services of entire ecosystems, particularly when they challenge ecosystem engineers. The subsequent search for a robust framework to forecast the consequences of these changes mostly ignores within-species variation in thermal sensitivity.

Emerging Solutions to Return Nature to the Urban Ocean.

Urban and periurban ocean developments impact 1.5% of the global exclusive economic zones, and the demand for ocean space and resources is increasing. As we strive for a more sustainable future, it is imperative that we better design, manage, and conserve urban ocean spaces for both humans and nature.

Survived but not safe: Marine heatwave hinders metabolism in two gastropod survivors.

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are an emerging threat to marine organisms that have increased in frequency and magnitude in the past decade. These extreme heating events can have differential impacts on organisms with some experiencing mortality while others survive. Here, we experimentally exposed two species of subtidal gastropod (Trochus sacellum and Astralium haematragum) to two realistic intensities of MHW to test the ability of different species to physiologically cope with extreme heating events.

Seascape genomics reveals population isolation in the reef-building honeycomb worm, Sabellaria alveolata (L.).

Background: Under the threat of climate change populations can disperse, acclimatise or evolve in order to avoid fitness loss. In light of this, it is important to understand neutral gene flow patterns as a measure of dispersal potential, but also adaptive genetic variation as a measure of evolutionary potential. In order to assess genetic variation and how this relates to environment in the honeycomb worm (Sabellaria alveolata (L.