Deep Time Ecology group

We have had a fantastic time at University of Zurich for CPEG 2015 discussing ecology, palaeoecology and conservation palaeobiology. Thanks to the wonderful organisers and looking forward to CPEG 2027 😀

Depth affects the population dynamics on a soft coral-dominated reef on the Great White Wall, Fiji - Coral Reefs Soft corals (order Alcyonacea) are an important component of tropical coral reefs, and often form locally abundance dense carpets. Some soft coral species are prone to bleaching and heat stress like s...

Massive thank you to Victor Bonito and Jone Waitaiti for their work on this paper!

You can read the paper here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

An example of another filter feeder on the GWW - a gorgonian sea fan

But we also found that multiple filter feeders were found alongside the dominant soft corals, possibly because these filter feeders can feed in between the times when the soft corals feed, which is aligned with periods of high current.

A close up of a Nephtheidae soft coral - you can clearly see sclerites and feeding polyps!

We found that reproduction and habitat were key factors in influencing the soft corals, and that soft corals become more dominant with depth because of reproductive lability, fast growth rates, and increasing suitable habitat associated with filter-feeding.

The view down the amazing Great White Wall reef

We can investigate the ecological processes that influence soft corals by analysing their spatial positions. To understand how depth affected the soft corals, we used our spatial analysis across a depth gradient.

Nephtheidae soft corals in Fiji

We investigate the population ecology of soft corals on the amazing Great White Wall in Fiji. These amazing animals are common on coral reefs, but some of them are resistant to climate change effects meaning they could become more common in the future, so we wanted to know more about their ecology.

Depth affects the population dynamics on a soft coral-dominated reef on the Great White Wall, Fiji - Coral Reefs Soft corals (order Alcyonacea) are an important component of tropical coral reefs, and often form locally abundance dense carpets. Some soft coral species are prone to bleaching and heat stress like s...

🚨NEW PAPER ALERT🚨: Depth affects the population dynamics on a soft coral-dominated reef on the Great White Wall, Fiji 🪸

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Fantastic to be back in Newfoundland for our research on the early animals of the #Ediacaran

A new Cambrian stem-group echinoderm reveals the evolution of the anteroposterior axis Woodgate et al. describe a new bilaterally symmetrical echinoderm, Atlascystis acantha, from the Cambrian of Morocco. Comparisons of plate growth with other echinoderms reveal that Atlascystis possess...

Delighted to share our paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social iology.bsky.social‬ with a palaeo-evo-devo perspective on the evolution of symmetry in echinoderms. Led by Steffi Woodgate with Frankie Dunn, @echinerd.bsky.social, @laurentformery.bsky.social & Sam Zamora
www.cell.com/current-biol...-5

Deep Time Ecology members presenting at #progpal2025 in Edinburgh. @shujie.bsky.social ’s poster on competition in Ediacaran communities, @princessairab.bsky.social ’s talk on Charniodiscus and @yarongliu.bsky.social ’s talk on trace fossils

Occupancy of Urban Habitats by the Jersey Tiger Moth Is Revealed by Social Media Data but Not Traditional Monitoring Photos posted on social media could provide information on species' responses to climate change that is up to date and from areas under-represented in traditional biological record data. Instagram an...

New paper alert!!

With @pettorelli.bsky.social and Regan Early

We asked whether social media records could be used to study species distributions - and it turns out they can!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Congratulations to @princessairab.bsky.social for winning a Presidents talk Prize 🥳

Go check out @nis38.bsky.social ‘s poster on secondary succession in the Avalon Ediacaran at #PalAss24!

Fantastic talk today by @ming-tfk27.bsky.social talking about ecological complexity in the run up to the K-Pg extinction in Seymour Island

Next up is @philvixseboxse.bsky.social former DTE member talking about his PhD work @cambridge-earthsci.bsky.social with Alex Liu and colleagues

Next up from DTE is Euan Furness talking about his work considering ecosystem stability over the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition

Super excited to kick off this post coffee session with @princessairab.bsky.social talking about her work on the #Ediacaran fossils

The Deep Time Ecology Group have several talks at #PalAss24!
Starting us off early in the morning on Day 1: In Session 2A, at Großer Saal at 11:00, @princessairab.bsky.social will be talking about the "Morphometric analyses of Charniodiscus from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland, Canada."

The Deep Time Ecology Group have several talks at #PalAss24! @ming-tfk27.bsky.social will be speaking on Day 2: Session 6B at 14:30 at the Kleiner Saal, about "Metacommunity structural changes of Antarctic invertebrates over the latest Maastrichtian".

The Deep Time Ecology Group have several talks at
#PalAss24!
Also in the morning on Day 1: In Session 2A, at Großer Saal at 11:30, postdoc Euan Furness will be talking about "Predators, zooplankton, and the origins of ecosystem stability."