Ocean Ecol Lab

Thank you to the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong for supporting this work through 🔬 project (AoE/P-601/23-N) and fellowship funding, and to HKUST for supporting 📚 open access publication.

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. 🌡️🌊

Weak trophic position–body mass relationships undermine simple size-spectrum models for coral reefs 🦑🧪

royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Share Link: kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

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…

🐠🌊 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.

🚨 New paper in Ecology Letters!

We test how spatiotemporal variation in #coral populations promotes a spatial portfolio effect that stabilizes coral metapopulations in #Moorea, French Polynesia 🪸
#NSF @uslter.bsky.social #MCRLTER @stanforddoerr.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1111/ele....

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.

📢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

RGC Postdoctoral Fellow @perez-rosales-g.bsky.social 🌊🌡️🪸 diving deep into mesophotic coral ecosystems at the Hong Kong Laureate Forum 2025. Packed room + great discussion — climate-refuge science resonating far beyond marine circles 🌍

www.hklaureateforum.org/en/the-forum...

🎓 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.

💡 One fringing site – LTER5 – remained stable and dominated by Porites rus, showing how distance from shore and hydrodynamic exposure can support resilience even when other fringing sites decline.

🪸 Nearly two decades of reef monitoring show that fringing reefs ⬇️ degraded while fore reefs ⬆️ recovered, highlighting how local conditions, connectivity, and development – not just ocean heating – shape resilience.

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...

🌊 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

‘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.

#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"

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

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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(a) Recorded sightings of whale shark neonates globally (black points). (b) Image of neonatal and adult whale sharks from Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines group (b) and Marty Snyderman (b). (c) Whale shark neonates and sea surface temperature (SST, °C averaged for 2005–2019). (d) SST recorded from neonate locations and 10 randomised runs. (e) Whale shark neonates and Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a, mg m3 averaged for 2005–2019). (f) Chl-a at 0 and 100 m depths recorded from neonate locations and 10 randomised runs. (g) Whale shark neonates and current velocity (UV) at 0 m depth (ms−1, averaged for 2005–2019). (h) UV recorded from neonate locations and 10 randomised runs. (i) Whale shark neonates and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration at 100 m depth (μmol L−1, averaged for 2005–2019). (h) DO concentrations at 0 and 100 m depths recorded from neonate locations and 10 randomised runs. In (d, f, h) and (j) each point represents a single sighting or randomised location, the solid black line is the median value of randomised locations, the dashed black line the median of the observed sightings for each depth, and the violin displays the density distribution of all locations. IUCN whale shark distributions are shown in white in each map and with a black outline in (a).

New research from @thesimslab.bsky.social in @ecol-evol.bsky.social - 🦈🌊
Unlocking the mystery of baby #whaleshark birthing grounds - Extreme environments like #OMZs provide safety from predators & a rich food supply, crucial for neonate survival.

doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

@thembauk.bsky.social

Do Whale Sharks Select for Specific Environments to Give Birth? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

YouTube video by Blancpain The Return of the Coelacanth - UNSEEN Expeditions - Blancpain

📢 First record of a living coelacanth from North Maluku, Indonesia - 👏 nice work Alexis and team 🤿
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🎦 The Return of the Coelacanth
youtu.be/Z1VSqIlokT8?...

🚨 New #Shark Pub available #OpenAccess in @natureportfolio.nature.com journal #ScientificReports 🚨

Here we reveal the dynamic physical processes that drive suitable habitat for Tiger Sharks in a subtropical coastal embayment🦈
🔗link here: rdcu.be/eeZG5
🧵 Thread for more: (1/6)
🎥: @jakemasondiving

In 2019, we showed that tiny, bottom-dwelling fish can fuel coral reef energy fluxes. In our new paper, we reveal a dramatic dichotomy in their functional role across coral reef habitats separated by a few 100 meters.

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

@esajournals.bsky.social

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 👇

On the responsibilities of intellectuals and the rise of bullshit jobs in universities You may never have considered yourself to be one. Why would you? But if you’re reading this, there is more than a likelihood that you are one. If you’re a

"We can push back on the calamitous corporatization of our universities. It is a fundamental responsibility of intellectuals."

And other gold: 🔥
🔗 academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

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

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 💔

Ocean has been losing its SST damping capacity (see Figure) since 1982 due to increased stratification, allowing SST anomalies and the associated climate and extreme weather events to attain stronger amplitude and persist longer. 🌊🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

👉 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...

🐠🧪🎓 New position alert: I am looking for a full-time research technician to work on my NSF CAREER project. Perks:

✅ SCUBA-based fieldwork in Belize 🤿
✅ Chemistry labwork 🧪
✅ Lots of fish and fun(ctions) 🐠📈😀

Deadline: Feb 21st

utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UTstaff/job/...

Please share widely.

An intense marine heatwave is unfolding off Western Australia.

theconversation.com/a-marine-hea...

A figure describing trends in coral cover and butterflyfishes.

Marine heatwaves imperil emblematic reef fishes by altering the energetic landscape of coral reefs

New paper from @thecaseylab.bsky.social in @animalecology.bsky.social

#science
#ecology

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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...

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....

🍾Congratulations to #PhDCandidate Josh Bennett-Williams for passing his PhD Qualifying Exam at #HKUST today 🎉.
👀 Follow for more updates on Josh's work applying stable #isotopes to understand the trophic #ecology of #fishes 🐟🦈