Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Marine Biology
Diversity and function of fluorescent molecules in marine animals
Published: 2023-09-05
Subjects: Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
Fluorescence in marine animals has mainly been studied in Cnidaria but is found in many different phyla such as Annelida, Crustacea, Mollusca, and Chordata. While many fluorescent proteins and molecules have been identified, very little information is available about the biological function of fluorescence. In this review, we focus on describing the occurrence of fluorescence in marine animals [...]
Growth and opportunities for drone surveillance in pinniped research
Published: 2023-09-03
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Integrative Biology, Marine Biology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Zoology
Pinniped species undergo uniquely amphibious life histories that make them valuable subjects for many domains of research. Pinniped research has often progressed hand-in-hand with technological frontiers of wildlife biology, and drones represent a leap forward for methods of aerial remote sensing, heralding data collection and integration at new scales of biological importance. Drone methods and [...]
Welcoming more participation in open data science for the oceans
Published: 2023-05-31
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Marine Biology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
Open science is a global movement happening across all research fields. It builds on years of efforts by individual researchers and a broad array of institutions, agencies, and grassroots organizations. Enabled by technology and the open web, the goal is to share knowledge and broaden participation in science, from team formation and early ideation to making intermediate and final research [...]
Breaking the Ice: A Review of Phages in Polar Ecosystems
Published: 2023-05-28
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Microbiology
Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that infect and replicate within bacterial hosts, playing a significant role in regulating microbial populations and ecosystem dynamics. However, phages from extreme environments such as polar regions remain relatively understudied due to challenges like restricted ecosystem access and low biomass. Understanding the diversity, structure, and functions of [...]
Geographic, seasonal and ontogenetic variations of δ15N and δ13C of Japanese sardine explained by baseline variations and diverse fish movements
Published: 2023-04-05
Subjects: Life Sciences, Marine Biology
Understanding and predicting variability in the stable isotope ratios of nitrogen and carbon (δ15N and δ13C, respectively) of small pelagic fish is crucial to enable isotopic studies of a variety of marine predators that feed on them. However, because the isotope ratios reflect plastic feeding habits and fish migration in addition to baseline variation, their predictions require a mechanistic [...]
What acoustic telemetry can and can’t tell us about fish biology
Published: 2023-02-07
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Zoology
Acoustic telemetry (AT) has become ubiquitous in aquatic monitoring and fish biology, conservation and management. Since the early use of active ultrasonic tracking that required researchers to follow at a distance their species of interest, the field has diversified considerably with exciting advances in both hydrophone and transmitter technology. Once a highly specialised methodology however, [...]
The impact of rising temperatures on the prevalence of coral diseases and its predictability: a global meta-analysis
Published: 2023-01-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Statistical Models
Coral reefs are under threat from disease as climate change alters environmental conditions. Rising temperatures exacerbate coral disease, but this relationship is likely complex as other factors also influence coral disease prevalence. To better understand this relationship, we meta-analytically examined 108 studies for changes in global coral disease over time alongside temperature, expressed [...]
Record of Halmahera Walking (Hemiscyllium halmahera) Shark in South Morotai
Published: 2022-06-28
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Zoology
Halmahera walking shark (Hemiscyllium halmahera) was first discovered by Allen in 2013 and studies regarding this species are still limited. This species distribution includes Halmahera Island and surrounding islands in North Maluku, such as Ternate, Tidore, Bacan and Morotai. Records in Morotai, one of Indonesias most well-known marine tourism sites for shark diving, are discussed in this study, [...]
Animating the carbon cycle through trophic rewilding could provide highly effective natural climate solutions
Published: 2022-05-11
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
Natural climate solutions are being advanced as cost-effective and safe ways to achieve net-zero emissions by protecting and enhancing carbon capture and storage in plants, and in soils and sediments in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Current thinking holds that these solutions have the added benefit of protecting habitats and landscapes to restore and conserve animal species diversity. [...]
Notes from the Past Show How Local Variability can Stymie Urchins and the Rise of the Reds in the Gulf of Maine
Published: 2022-05-10
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
The impacts of global change — from shifts in climate to overfishing to land use change — can depend heavily on local abiotic context. Building an understanding of how to downscale global change scenarios to local impacts is often difficult, however, and requires historical data across large gradients of variability. Such data are often not available — particularly in peer reviewed or gray [...]
Extreme heatwave drives topography-dependent patterns of mortality in a bed-forming intertidal barnacle, with implications for associated community structure
Published: 2022-04-01
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
Heatwave frequency and intensity will increase as climate change progresses. Intertidal sessile invertebrates, which often form thermally benign microhabitats for associated species, are vulnerable to thermal stress because they have minimal ability to behaviourally thermoregulate. Understanding what factors influence the mortality of biogenic species and how heatwaves might impact their ability [...]
Evidence-based Protection of Sea Turtle Eggs and Hatchery Practices
Published: 2022-03-24
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
It is important for emerging conservationists and wildlife managers to gain experience in the use of evidence-based conservation, by way of critical analysis and understanding of the context and application of conservation actions. We developed a teaching case and activity for undergraduate and graduate courses in conservation biology, wildlife management etc., although it could also be adopted [...]
Achieving global biodiversity goals by 2050 requires urgent and integrated actions
Published: 2022-02-24
Subjects: Agriculture, Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forest Sciences, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Plant Sciences
Human impacts on the Earth’s biosphere are driving the global biodiversity crisis. Governments are preparing to agree on a set of actions intended to halt the loss of biodiversity and put it on a path to recovery by 2050. We provide evidence that the proposed actions can bend the curve for biodiversity, but only if these actions are implemented urgently and in an integrated manner.
A set of principles and practical suggestions for equitable fieldwork in biology
Published: 2022-02-04
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Forest Sciences, Genetics and Genomics, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Plant Sciences
Field biology is an area of research that involves working directly with living organisms in situ through a practice known as “fieldwork.” Conducting fieldwork often requires complex logistical planning within multiregional or multinational teams, interacting with local communities at field sites, and collaborative research led by one or a few of the core team members. However, existing power [...]
Adaptations and plastic phenotypic responses of marine animals to the environmental challenges of the high intertidal zone
Published: 2022-01-15
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Physiology
The high intertidal zone is home to an incredible variety of marine animals, as it offers an escape from low intertidal/subtidal predation and competition, among other advantages. However, this area of the shore also comes with many tide-driven and emersion-associated environmental stressors, such as desiccation, high temperatures and freezing stress, hypoxia, salinity fluctuations, nitrogenous [...]