Biogenic structural complexity is a key driver of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, yet its ecological and environmental determinants remain poorly understood across broad biogeographic scales. Here, we conducted standardized 90‐day field experiments at 16 coastal sites, spanning a 41‐degree latitudinal gradient, using naturally assembled marine fouling communities on settlement panels. We measured rugosity as our metric...

Seaweeds are rich in essential dietary minerals, often lacking in terrestrial plant foods, with interest in Australian seaweeds rapidly increasing. We screened six Australian brown seaweeds with commercial potential for dietary mineral composition: Cystophora torulosa , Caulocystis uvifera , Durvillaea potatorum , Ecklonia radiata , Hormosira banksii and Phyllospora comosa . Spatial replicates of each species were collected fr...

Avian embryos develop in an egg composition which reflects both maternal condition and the recent environment of their mother. In birds, yolk corticosterone (CORT) influences development by impacting pre‐ and postnatal growth, as well as nestling stress responses and development. One possible mechanism through which maternal CORT may affect offspring development is via changes to offspring DNA methylation. We sought to investi...

Microbial community assembly remains largely unexplored in marine mammals, despite its potential importance for conservation and management. Here, neonatal microbiota assembly was studied in harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina richardii ) at a rehabilitation facility soon after maternal separation, through weaning, to the time of release back to their native environment. We found that the gingival and rectal communities of rehabili...

The flavour of aquatic animal products is distinct from terrestrial foods, facilitating a competitive marketing advantage. However, the flavour of aquatic animals can also be highly variable. Importantly, differences are reported in the flavour of animals from aquaculture and wild‐capture systems. These differences can erode consumer acceptance of aquaculture products and reduce financial returns to producers. Mild ‘fish‐like’...

Aim In the face of global change, understanding causes of range limits are one of the most pressing needs in biogeography and ecology. A prevailing hypothesis is that abiotic stress forms cold (upper latitude/altitude) limits, whereas biotic interactions create warm (lower) limits. A new framework – Interactive Range‐Limit Theory (iRLT) – asserts that positive biotic factors such as food availability can ameliorate abiotic str...

Seasonal coat colour change is an important adaptation to seasonally changing environments but the evolution of this and other circannual traits remains poorly understood. In this study, we use gene expression to understand seasonal coat colour moulting in wild snowshoe hares ( Lepus americanus ). We used hair colour to follow the progression of the moult, simultaneously sampling skin from three moulting stages in hares collec...

Summary Thermal stress increases the incidence of coral disease, which is predicted to become more common with climate change, even on pristine reefs such as those surrounding Palmyra Atoll in the Northern Line Islands that experience minimal anthropogenic stress. Here we describe a strain of Vibrio coralliilyticus , OCN014, which was isolated from Acropora cytherea during an outbreak of Acropora white syndrome (AWS), a tissue...

The impact of extreme sea states on offshore infrastructure is of intense interest in the ocean engineering community at the present time. In this study, a new quality‐controlled database of global satellite‐derived estimates of significant wave height ( HS ) and surface marine wind speed from seven missions spanning the period August 1991–March 2010, known as GlobWave , is scanned to yield over 5000 ocean basin specific orbit...

Aim Quaking aspen ( P opulus tremuloides ) has the largest natural distribution of any tree native to North America. The primary objectives of this study were to characterize range‐wide genetic diversity and genetic structuring in quaking aspen, and to assess the influence of glacial history and rear‐edge dynamics. Location North America. Methods Using a sample set representing the full longitudinal and latitudinal extent of t...

Aim The biotic resistance hypothesis argues that complex plant and animal communities are more resistant to invasion than simpler communities. Conversely, the biotic acceptance hypothesis states that non‐native and native species richness are positively related. Most tests of these hypotheses at continental scales, typically conducted on plants, have found support for biotic acceptance. We tested these hypotheses on both amphi...