Passive dispersal plays a key role in the distribution of marine benthic species that have reduced mobility and lack planktonic life stages. However, its qualitative and quantitative importance, as well as the ecological and environmental factors responsible for it, remain largely unknown. Here, we address these issues by analyzing the dispersal of benthic foraminifera using environmental DNA ( e DNA) from the water column and...

Sedimentary ancient DNA ( seda DNA) offers a novel retrospective approach to reconstructing the history of marine ecosystems over geological timescales. Until now, the biological proxies used to reconstruct paleoceanographic and paleoecological conditions were limited to organisms whose remains are preserved in the fossil record. The development of ancient DNA analysis techniques substantially expands the range of studied taxa...