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Ocean Ecol Lab

@oceanecol.bsky.social

Oceanographic processes and the ecological structure and function of marine communities in a changing world, research by Alex S.J. Wyatt @HKUST and colleagues https://www.oceanecol.com/

25 Posts4441 Follower174 Folgt
Ocean Ecol Lab@oceanecol.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🎉 Congratulations to Yu-De Pei on passing his PhD Qualifying Examination today 🎉 👀 Follow updates on Yu-De's work investigating coral ecosystems across environmental gradients 🌊🪸🪸🪸🌊 Thank you to the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong.

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Ocean Ecol Lab@oceanecol.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Great work by Gonzalo @perez-rosales-g.bsky.social and the team, showing how fine-scale thermal structure – not just SST – shapes bleaching outcomes in marginal reefs. High-resolution, in-situ temperature data are essential to understand – and predict – coral responses to ocean heating. 🌡️🌊

PhD. Gonzalo Perez-Rosales@perez-rosales-g.bsky.social · 5mo ago

‼️ ‼️ Paper alert ‼️ ‼️ Our latest study from the @oceanecol.bsky.social Lab in the @icrs.bsky.social journal @springernature.com shows why high-resolution temperature monitoring matters for assessing bleaching impacts. doi.org/10.1007/s003... Thanks to @hkust.bsky.social, it is #openaccess

Ocean Ecol Lab@oceanecol.bsky.social · 6mo ago

🐠🌊 New paper led by Udayana University (Bali): plastic pollution in Marine Protected Areas. 📉 Coral cover declined (2015–24); 🧫 microplastics in coral tissue at all sites; 🪢 macroplastics drive damage. 🛠️ Strong case for improving upstream waste management. “Protected” doesn’t mean insulated.

Plastic threats to coral reefs: A strategic management perspective from Bali's marine protected areas

Plastic pollution remains a significant threat to coral reef ecosystems, even within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This study assesses the levels and…

sciencedirect.com

Ocean Ecol Lab@oceanecol.bsky.social · 6mo ago

📢New paper in 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲: Using #eDNA 🧬 + surveys 🌊 to track microbes 🦠 → fish 🐟, we show how direct environmental control weakens with trophic level; community structure at higher trophic levels is increasingly shaped by biotic interactions and habitat selection t.ly/jfnwD

Environmental Filtering Weakens with Trophic Level in Urban Coastal Ecosystems

Urban coastal ecosystems face increasing anthropogenic pressures and environmental variability, yet the consequences for multitrophic biodiversity and ecosystem networks remain poorly resolved. Here, we combine environmental DNA metabarcoding, visual surveys, flow cytometry, and environmental measurements to examine the spatiotemporal dynamics of marine metazoans, protists, and prokaryotes across estuarine, transitional, and oceanic habitats in Hong Kong’s urbanized coastal waters. Using permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA), we demonstrate that environmental control over community composition weakens systematically at higher trophic levels. The variance explained by seasonal and spatial interaction was highest for prokaryotes (R2 = 0.76) and protists (0.59), but notably lower for benthic fauna (0.41) and bony fish (0.32). Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that oceanic habitats, dominated by heterotrophic prokaryotes, omnivorous fish, and hard corals, supported the most complex and stable multitrophic networks, with an average complexity of 0.54 compared to estuarine (0.23) and transitional habitats (0.29). Structural equation modeling further revealed habitat-specific drivers: temperature exerted the strongest direct effect in estuarine habitats (>0.44), while biotic interactions involving primary producers played a dominant role in oceanic habitats (direct effect >0.28). In contrast, transitional habitats lacked significant environmental or biotic drivers, indicating a system in flux where community dynamics are likely governed by complex variables beyond standard environmental or biotic regulation. These findings demonstrate the gradient-dependent interplay of environmental filtering and biotic regulation in shaping coastal ecosystem stability. Our results also highlight the value of an integrated eDNA-based framework for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem change, providing insights for the management of urban marine environments under global change.

pubs.acs.org

Ocean Ecol Lab@oceanecol.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🎓 Proud moment at the HKUST Congregation 2025 – Dr Tim King (Ph.D.) and Ms Shiyue Wang (M.Phil.) graduating. Their theses advanced understanding of coral metabolism and trophic ecology in changing reef environments. Congrats to both and looking forward to more contributions to coral reef science.

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Ocean Ecol Lab@oceanecol.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🌊 New paper in Ecosphere! Long-term community dynamics are heterogeneous between fringing- and fore-reef habitats on an Indo-Pacific coral reef Edmunds et al. (2025) 🔗 doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70398

Long‐term community dynamics are heterogeneous between fringing‐ and fore‐reef habitats on an Indo‐Pacific coral reef

Benthic community structure on present-day coral reefs is often described as rapidly degrading, yet such summative statements do not capture the effects of spatial heterogeneity in communities. We fo...

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Yung En Chee@yungenchee.bsky.social · 12mo ago

#NingalooReef "annual surveys of the northern section of the reef in May found up to 90 per cent of coral had been bleached down to 20 metres depth", the "lowest cover of live coral" observed since 2007 "up to 50 per cent of the examined coral was dead in May" but "more would be dead now"

‘You realise your children are probably never going to see Ningaloo the way you saw it’

The west-coast reef has largely escaped the curse of coral bleaching that has blighted the Great Barrier Reef. This year, that’s changed.

smh.com.au

Dr Vincent Raoult @sawsharkman.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Feeling lucky to have seen Ningaloo in its prime. Devastated that my children will never have that chance.

Yung En Chee@yungenchee.bsky.social · 12mo ago

#NingalooReef "annual surveys of the northern section of the reef in May found up to 90 per cent of coral had been bleached down to 20 metres depth", the "lowest cover of live coral" observed since 2007 "up to 50 per cent of the examined coral was dead in May" but "more would be dead now"

Simon J. Brandl@gobyone.bsky.social · last yr.

Heard of "Darwin's paradox"? It refers to Charles Darwin's observation that coral reefs are wildly productive despite occurring in nutrient-poor tropical oceans. Reefs are, so the story goes, oases in marine deserts 🏝️... Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong... 🌐 🦑🧪 🧵⬇️

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Thomas Frölicher@froeltho.bsky.social · last yr.

Key takeaways from our study on the record-breaking global sea surface temperature jump in 2023-24: • A rare 1-in-512-year event • Only possible due to human-caused global warming • Climate models capture it—no signs of unexpected climate change More details below 👇

Jens Terhaar@polarocean.bsky.social · last yr.

Why have the sea surface temperature suddenly risen in 2023/24? 🌊 Is it true that climate models cannot simulate such SST jumps? What is common to such jumps? How will SSTs evolve over the next months and years? Are we in uncharted territory? More from our recent study in Nature is here👇

Dr Verena Schoepf (she/her)@verenaschoepf.bsky.social · last yr.

After record heat stress and mass bleaching for more than two years globally, Australia's largest fringing reef - Ningaloo Reef - is now also in the midst of a severe bleaching event 💔

Large areas of WA’s Ningaloo corals could die in ‘weeks ahead’ after widespread bleaching documented

Conservationists call for urgent government action as prolonged heatwave affects renowned reef, including Turquoise Bay, Tantabiddi and Bundegi

theguardian.com

Ocean Ecol Lab@oceanecol.bsky.social · last yr.

👉 Widespread decline in fieldwork-based research and education is bad news for biodiversity, conservation, and future generations of scientists 😢. "Extinction of experience among ecologists" doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

Redirecting

doi.org

Louise Chavarie@chavarie.bsky.social · last yr.

If you did not read this paper, please do!!! Fieldwork needs to be recognized as a valuable and tangible aspects of science! Funding agency needs to start to value this more or.... Extinction of experience among ecologists sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Terry Hughes@profterryhughes.bsky.social · 2y ago

An intense marine heatwave is unfolding off Western Australia. theconversation.com/a-marine-hea...

A marine heatwave in northwest Australia is killing huge numbers of fish. It’s heading south

In 2010, an enormous marine heatwave devastated ocean life in Western Australia. Now another big one is taking hold – and heading towards Ningaloo.

theconversation.com

Terry Hughes@profterryhughes.bsky.social · 2y ago

Memo to Woodside & the Australian government: Tragically, remote Scott Reef is now experiencing extreme levels of heat stress once more due to anthropogenic heating. 8 Degree Heating Weeks of accumulated heat stress (right axis) is enough to kill most stag-horn corals. 20 DHW is catastrophic.

Mat Cobain@cobainmat.eurosky.social · 2y ago

Our extensive review of the power and pitfalls of amino acid specific carbon stable isotope analysis is finally out in Ecological Monographs! Only 5 years in the making 😅 doi.org/10.1002/ecm....

The power and pitfalls of amino acid carbon stable isotopes for tracing origin and use of basal resources in food webs

Natural and anthropogenic stressors alter the composition, biomass, and nutritional quality of primary producers and microorganisms, the basal organisms that synthesize the biomolecules essential for...

doi.org