There is a growing recognition that effective climate adaptation requires organizations that can translate science into policy-relevant, place-based implementation. The Stone Living Lab (SLL) was established as a climate services organization to help bridge the gap between climate adaptation research and real-world application. In this paper, we present the Lab as a model for how universities and NGOs can partner with governme...

Aim We investigated how local‐scale environmental heterogeneity influences biodiversity patterns across broad biogeographic gradients, using intertidal microhabitats as a model system within one of the most environmentally stressful ecosystems on Earth. Location Intertidal habitats at 26 locations (two rocky shore sites per location) across six continents, spanning 98° of latitude (38°S to 60°N). Time Period 2019–2022. Major T...

Social environments can influence individuals’ health, reproductive success, welfare, and survival. These environments consist of diverse social connection types at multiple levels, which could influence different components of fitness in contrasting ways. Great tits ( Parus major ) exhibit a multilevel society with four major types of dyadic bonds: pair mates, breeding neighbours, flockmates, and spatial associates, all of wh...

Variation in age structure influences population dynamics, yet we have limited understanding of the spatial scale at which its fluctuations are synchronised between populations. Using 32 great tit populations, spanning 4° W–33° E and 35°–65° N involving > 130,000 birds across 67 years, we quantify spatial synchrony in breeding demographic structure (subadult vs. adult breeders) and its drivers. We show that larger clutch sizes...

Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) farmed in New Zealand are known to develop abnormal spinal curvature late in seawater production. Its cause is presently unknown, but there is evidence to suggest a neuromuscular pathology. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we evaluated the relationship between soft tissue pathology and spinal curvature in farmed Chinook salmon. Regions of interest (ROIs) presenting as patholog...

Collective behaviors are typical for many social species and can have fitness benefits for participating individuals. To maximize the benefits obtained from group living, individuals must coordinate their behaviors to some extent. What are the mechanisms that make certain individuals more likely to initiate collective behaviors, for example, by taking a risk to initially access a resource (i.e., to act as “leaders”)? Here, we...

Summary Colwellia psychrerythraea is a marine psychrophilic bacterium known for its remarkable ability to maintain activity during long‐term exposure to extreme subzero temperatures and correspondingly high salinities in sea ice. These microorganisms must have adaptations to both high salinity and low temperature to survive, be metabolically active, or grow in the ice. Here, we report on an experimental design that allowed us...

Aim Topographic complexity is widely accepted as a key driver of biodiversity, but at the patch‐scale, complexity–biodiversity relationships may vary spatially and temporally according to the environmental stressors complexity mitigates, and the species richness and identity of potential colonists. Using a manipulative experiment, we assessed spatial variation in patch‐scale effects of complexity on intertidal biodiversity. Lo...

Coastal urbanisation, energy extraction, food production, shipping and transportation have led to the global proliferation of artificial structures within the coastal and marine environments (sensu “ocean sprawl”), with subsequent loss of natural habitats and biodiversity. To mitigate and compensate impacts of ocean sprawl, the practice of eco-engineering of artificial structures has been developed over the past decade. Eco-en...

Spatial structure underpins numerous population processes by determining the environment individuals' experience and which other individuals they encounter. Yet, how the social landscape influences individuals' spatial decisions remains largely unexplored. Wild great tits ( Parus major ) form freely moving winter flocks, but choose a single location to establish a breeding territory over the spring. We demonstrate that individ...