Phytoplankton is the foundation of all life on the planet. Understanding how these photosynthetic organisms react to their ocean environment is important to understanding the rest of the food web. In spite of that, computer models of the global ocean biogeochemistry typically don’t include the day/night (diel) light cycle, even though that cycle is critical for photosynthesis in the ocean’s primary producers. For the first time, scientists from the Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) have incorporated the…

Scientists at Newcastle University have uncovered a source of oxygen that may have influenced the evolution of life before the advent of photosynthesis. The pioneering research project, led by Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences and published today in Nature Communications, uncovered a mechanism that can generate hydrogen peroxide from rocks during the movement of geological faults. While in high concentrations hydrogen peroxide can be harmful to life, it can also provide a useful source of oxygen to…

An international team led by Uppsala University researchers has uncovered that eukaryotes (organisms with a cellular nucleus) have made hundreds of big leaps from sea to soil and freshwater habitats, and vice versa, during their evolution. The results, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, also provide insights into what the habitats of our ancient microbial ancestors looked like. Major habitat transitions, such as moving to land from a life in the sea, are key evolutionary events that can spark explosions…

The northern and central Great Barrier Reef have recorded their highest amount of coral cover since the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) began monitoring 36 years ago. Published today, AIMS’ Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2021/22 shows another year of increased coral cover across much of the Reef. In the 87 representative reefs surveyed between August 2021 and May 2022 under the AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program (LTMP), average hard coral cover in the region north of…

UBCO researcher creates hundreds of scenarios, determines importance of coral diversity. A UBC Okanagan research team has created a computer modelling program to help scientists predict the effect of climate damage and eventual restoration plans on coral reefs around the globe. This is a critical objective, says Dr. Bruno Carturan, because climate change is killing many coral species and can lead to the collapse of entire coral reef ecosystems. But, because they are so complex, it’s logistically challenging to study…

… in climate history. Heinrich Events or, more accurately, Heinrich Layers, are recurrent conspicuous sediment layers, usually ten to 15 centimeters thick, with very coarse rock components that interrupt the otherwise fine-grained oceanic deposits in the North Atlantic. Discovered and first described in the 1980s by the geologist Hartmut Heinrich, U.S. geochemist Wally Broecker later officially named them Heinrich Layers, which has become a standard term in paleoceanography. The presence of Heinrich Layers has been established throughout the North Atlantic,…

Ancient rocks hold clues. New paleomagnetic research suggests Earth’s solid inner core formed 550 million years ago and restored our planet’s magnetic field. Approximately 1,800 miles beneath our feet, swirling liquid iron in the Earth’s outer core generates our planet’s protective magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is vital for life on Earth’s surface because it shields the planet from solar wind—streams of radiation from the sun. About 565 million years ago, however, the magnetic field’s strength decreased…

July 19 was the hottest day ever recorded in the United Kingdom, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (about 104 degrees Fahrenheit). The heatwave serves as an early preview of what climate forecasters theorized will be typical summer weather in the U.K. in 2050. The heat continues across Europe today, as well as in the United States, where more than a third of the country is under heat warnings. The temperatures harken back to just over a year ago when…

New research offers a pathway to achieving the 30 by 30 target using ecosystem diversity across four South American countries protected areas. There is an opportunity to increase the representation of ecosystems to 31% across four Andean countries through the additional protection of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). This is shown in a new study led by NatureServe, iDiv and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), together with other institutions. The study, published in the journal Remote Sensing demonstrates how Essential Biodiversity…

The first-known, off-axis, high-temperature deep-sea hydrothermal vents along a portion of the northern East Pacific Rise are hotter and cover more area than any other hydrothermal vents studied to date along this section of the mid-ocean ridge. Finding a new, high-temperature, off-axis hydrothermal vent field on the floor of the Pacific Ocean at 2550 meters depth could change scientists’ understanding of the impact that such ocean-floor vent systems have on the life and chemistry of Earth’s oceans. A team of…

Researchers decode the unusual genome of the Prussian carp. The Prussian carp is considered one of the most successful invasive fish species in Europe. Its ability to reproduce asexually gives it a major advantage over competing fish. An international research team has now managed to describe the complete genome of the Prussian carp for the first time. This also provides a much better understanding of its peculiar reproductive method. The study, led by Dunja Lamatsch from the Research Department for…

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart present long-term study on the degradation of plastic. It was a shipwreck for the benefit of science. In June 1993, the cargo ship SS Hamada sustained severe damage in heavy seas above a coral reef off the coast of Egypt, broke in two, and sank – fully loaded with plastic granules – in the middle of a nature reserve. But the disaster also offered an opportunity. Some of the plastic pellets washed up on…

On average, 30 per cent of all species worldwide have been threatened with extinction or already become extinct over the last 500 years. This was the result of estimates by 3,331 experts working on biodiversity in 187 countries. This large and diverse group was asked in a survey, led by the University of Minnesota and with the participation of iDiv and the University of Leipzig, to provide assessments of the change in the species they study. The results are expected…

CSU researcher offers first observations of milky seas observed from the Earth’s surface, and from space at the same time. Milky seas – the rare phenomenon of glowing areas on the ocean’s surface that can cover hundreds of square miles – are not new to scientists at Colorado State University. They have previously demonstrated the use of satellites to see these elusive phenomena. What was missing were photographic observations of milky seas observed from the Earth’s surface and from space at the same…

The first direct observations of size-resolved ice nucleating particles in the central Arctic, spanning entire sea ice growth and decline cycle. While climate change is taking effect everywhere on Earth, the Arctic Circle is feeling those effects most of all, in the form of glacial melt, permafrost thaw and sea ice decline. Key players in climate change include the clouds that cover the Earth’s surface and the microscopic, airborne aerosols called ice nucleating particles that seed the formation of ice in those…

Team led by Simon Haberstroh demonstrates that cork oaks under gum rockrose invasion change their water use strategy during drought, thereby consuming less water The modified strategy causes the cork oak to take up less carbon, resulting in reduced growth Haberstroh: “Until now, we were not aware that competition for water between plants can lead to such a change in water use strategy” What strategies and adaptive measures does the cork oak (Quercus suber) use in savanna-like ecosystems in southeastern…