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Bacteria are fundamental to coral health and resilience, though a dearth of knowledge exists on the formation of the coral microbiome in early life history stages. Although this initial microbial consortium is thought to hold key roles throughout development, its sparsity is easily obscured by environmental background microbiota. This opacity renders accurate studies of the early coral microbiome difficult, and limits applicat...
Species‐specific processing of fluorescent dissolved organic matter by Caribbean spongesNARA Subscribed
Coral reefs are biodiverse and productive ecosystems that are found in typically oligotrophic environments. Many studies have attempted to explain this paradox by demonstrating that microbial symbionts expand metabolic capabilities of host animals. However, few studies have determined if and how coexisting organisms and their symbiotic microbial communities partition available dissolved organic matter. To address this question...
Terrigenous inputs link nutrient dynamics to microbial communities in a tropical lagoonNARA Subscribed
Nutrient availability drives community structure and ecosystem processes, especially in tropical lagoons that are typically oligotrophic but often receive allochthonous inputs from land. Terrestrially derived nutrients are introduced to tropical lagoons by surface runoff and submarine groundwater discharge, which are influenced by seasonal precipitation. However, terrigenous inputs presumably diminish along the onshore–offshor...
Foundation Species Modulate Microbial Benthic–Pelagic Coupling in the Rocky IntertidalNARA Subscribed
Benthic–pelagic coupling, the reciprocal exchange of materials between benthic and pelagic habitats, has traditionally emphasised pelagic influences on benthic systems. Yet, the role of benthic biological processes in shaping pelagic microbial dynamics remains underexplored. We investigated how surfgrass and mussels regulate nitrogen and dissolved organic matter (DOM) cycling and their cascading effects on heterotrophic bacter...
Pre‐existing phytoplankton biomass concentrations shape coastal plankton response to fire‐generated ash leachateNARA Subscribed
Climate‐driven warming is projected to intensify wildfires, increasing their frequency and severity globally. Wildfires are an increasingly significant source of atmospheric deposition, delivering nutrients, organic matter, and trace metals to coastal and open ocean waters. These inputs have the potential to fertilize or inhibit microbial growth, yet their ecological impacts remain poorly understood. This study examines how as...
Microbial Community Metabolism of Coral Reef Exometabolomes Broadens the Chemodiversity of Labile Dissolved Organic MatterNARA Subscribed
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) comprises diverse compounds with variable bioavailability across aquatic ecosystems. The sources and quantities of DOM can influence microbial growth and community structure with effects on biogeochemical processes. To investigate the chemodiversity of labile DOM in tropical reef waters, we tracked microbial utilisation of over 3000 untargeted mass spectrometry ion features exuded from two coral...
A 7‐yr spatial time series resolves the island mass effect and associated shifts in picocyanobacteria abundances near O'ahu, Hawai'iNARA Subscribed
Islands in oligotrophic oceans act as local sources of nutrients. These nutrients originate from land and from deep oceanic nutrients introduced to the photic zone by tides, currents, and internal waves interacting with island bathymetry. These processes create the island mass effect (IME), in which increased chlorophyll a (Chl a ) is found near islands compared to oceanic waters. The IME has been described via satellite obser...
The Lake Sturgeon is a long‐lived, late‐maturing fish that declined significantly in abundance over the past 150 years. Since the 1990s, stocking has been used to recover numerous Lake Sturgeon populations across North America. Ill‐informed genetic mixing among populations can have unintended negative consequences, so a genotype‐by‐sequencing (GBS) study was undertaken to help guide the stocking strategy for Lake Sturgeon on t...
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in high volcanic islands can be an important source of freshwater and nutrients to coral reefs. High inorganic nutrient content is generally thought to augment primary production in coastal systems but when this is delivered via a freshwater vector as is the case with SGD in this study, the effects on productivity are unclear. In the current literature, there is limited evidence for a dire...
One mechanism giving fleshy algae a competitive advantage over corals during reef degradation is algal-induced and microbially-mediated hypoxia (typically less than 69.5 µmol oxygen L −1 ). During hypoxic conditions oxygen availability becomes insufficient to sustain aerobic respiration in most metazoans. Algae are more tolerant of low oxygen conditions and may outcompete corals weakened by hypoxia. A key question on the ecolo...
SNAPSHOT USA 2020: A second coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States during the COVID ‐19 pandemicNARA Subscribed
Managing wildlife populations in the face of global change requires regular data on the abundance and distribution of wild animals, but acquiring these over appropriate spatial scales in a sustainable way has proven challenging. Here we present the data from Snapshot USA 2020, a second annual national mammal survey of the USA. This project involved 152 scientists setting camera traps in a standardized protocol at 1485 location...
Bacterioplankton communities reveal horizontal and vertical influence of an Island Mass EffectNARA Subscribed
Summary Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems with distinct biogeochemistry and biology nestled within unproductive oligotrophic gyres. Coral reef islands have often been associated with a nearshore enhancement in phytoplankton, a phenomenon known as the Island Mass Effect (IME). Despite being documented more than 60 years ago, much remains unknown about the extent and drivers of IMEs. Here we utilized 16S rRNA gene met...
Social integration of translocated wildlife: a case study of rehabilitated and released elephant calves in northern KenyaNARA Subscribed
Conservation translocations have the potential to strengthen populations of threatened and endangered species, but facilitating integration of translocated individuals with resident populations remains a substantial challenge. Developing functional social relationships like cooperative partnerships or establishing clear dominance hierarchies may be critical to integration of released individuals. Developing such relationships...
Prolonging survival in good health is a fundamental societal goal. However, the leading determinants of disability-free survival in healthy older people have not been well established. Data from ASPREE, a bi-national placebo-controlled trial of aspirin with 4.7 years median follow-up, was analysed. At enrolment, participants were healthy and without prior cardiovascular events, dementia or persistent physical disability. Disab...
Temperature‐mediated acquisition of rare heterologous symbionts promotes survival of coral larvae under ocean warmingNARA Subscribed
Reef‐building corals form nutritional symbioses with endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodiniaceae), a relationship that facilitates the ecological success of coral reefs. These symbionts are mostly acquired anew each generation from the environment during early life stages (“horizontal transmission”). Symbiodiniaceae species exhibit trait variation that directly impacts the health and performance of the coral host under ocea...
The rapidly advancing field of metabolomics encompasses a diverse suite of powerful analytical and bioinformatic tools that can help to reveal the diversity and activity of chemical compounds in individual organisms, species interactions, and entire ecosystems. In this perspective we use examples from studies of coral reefs to illustrate ways in which metabolomics has been and can be applied to understand coastal ecosystems. E...
Ocean warming is causing global coral bleaching events to increase in frequency, resulting in widespread coral mortality and disrupting the function of coral reef ecosystems. However, even during mass bleaching events, many corals resist bleaching despite exposure to abnormally high temperatures. While the physiological effects of bleaching have been well documented, the consequences of heat stress for bleaching‐resistant indi...