Ethane is the most abundant non-methane hydrocarbon in Earth’s atmosphere and acts as an indirect greenhouse gas, influencing the atmospheric lifetime of methane. Therefore, understanding the development of trends and identifying trend reversals in atmospheric ethane is crucial. Ethane abundance is measured at different ground-based stations worldwide using Fourier transform infrared remote sensing techniques. We compile a new...

Aim Foundation species sustain biodiversity by providing habitat, resources, and protection from environmental stress. However, their influence on environmental severity and variability and their role in shaping diversity across spatial scales remain poorly understood. We conducted a large‐scale study to assess how environmental conditions and community diversity vary between areas with and without canopy‐forming macroalgae ac...

Blue carbon habitats, which exhibit high rates of natural carbon sequestration, typically refer to salt marshes, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests. Recent studies, however, have argued for the inclusion of seaweed‐dominated habitats, like kelp forests, into blue carbon frameworks. Farmed seaweed may also function as a blue carbon habitat, with large‐scale seaweed aquaculture suggested as a climate change mitigation strate...

Seaweed farming is a rapidly growing global industry, driven by increasing demand for biomass with a range of commercial applications. A major barrier limiting expansion of the industry is the need for cost-effective approaches to production. Established twine seeding methods are reliable, but recently developed binder methods offer potential scalability while minimising hatchery costs. Here, we compared growth of the farmed k...

Seaweed cultivation, including kelp species, is rapidly expanding in many regions. A widely assumed co-benefit of seaweed farming is increased local carbon sequestration rates (thereby contributing to climate change mitigation), although direct field-based measurements of carbon assimilation and release are largely lacking. We quantified growth, erosion and dislodgement rates of farmed Saccharina latissima in Porthallow Bay (C...

Introduction To counteract the rapid loss of marine forests globally and meet international commitments of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the Convention on Biological Diversity ‘30 by 30’ targets, there is an urgent need to enhance our capacity for macroalgal restoration. The Green Gravel Action Group (GGAG) is a global network of 67 members that are working on the restoration of a diverse range of macroalgal fores...

Seaweed farming is expanding in Europe and may provide environmental benefits similar to those from natural kelp forests and shellfish farms, including habitat provisioning. Few studies have substantiated these claims however, and it remains uncertain whether seaweed farms will support similar biodiversity to kelp forests or provide valuable long-term habitat beyond the harvest season. We repeatedly surveyed an integrated suga...

Kelp species function as foundation organisms in coastal marine ecosystems, where they alter environmental conditions and promote local biodiversity by providing complex biogenic habitat for an array of associated organisms. The structure and functioning of kelp forest ecosystems in some regions, such as along the Peruvian coastline, remain critically understudied. We quantified the structure and diversity of faunal assemblage...

Bacterioplankton underpin biogeochemical cycles and an improved understanding of the patterns and drivers of variability in their distribution is needed to determine their wider functioning and importance. Sharp environmental gradients and dispersal barriers associated with ocean fronts are emerging as key determinants of bacterioplankton biodiversity patterns. We examined how the development of the Celtic Sea Front (CF), a ti...

Invasive species are a global threat to biodiversity and there is a pressing need to better understand why some species become invasive outside of their native range, and others do not. One explanation for invasive species success is their release from concurrent natural enemies upon introduction to the non-native range. The so-called enemy release hypothesis (ERH) has conflicting support, depending upon the ecosystem and spec...