Dr. Matthew Tietbohl

Degradation of fish food webs in the Anthropocene The decrease in body size driven by the selective species turnover is widely altering fish food web topology and function.

New paper out examining fish food web degradation in the Anthropocene. We show the structure of aquatic food webs are changing-- even when species richness doesn’t. These signals are strongly associated with decreases in body size within fish communities. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🌐🐠🐡🦈🐟

Fossil isotope evidence for trophic simplification on modern Caribbean reefs - Nature Using nitrogen isotopes from ancient and modern fish otoliths and corals, the study shows Caribbean reef food webs are now 60–70% shorter and functionally less diverse, indicating human-driven trophic simplification and increased risk of collapse.

The food chains on modern Caribbean coral reefs may have shortened by up to 70% compared with those on their prehistoric counterparts, according to research in Nature. The findings suggest that modern reefs could be increasingly vulnerable to external stressors and ecosystem collapse. 🌍 🧪

Top, map of coral reefs around the world. Bottom, how many of them are in what sort of trophic regime (only 20% oligotrophic).

This is a type of paper I really like: Let's take something "everyone knows" (that coral reefs are in oligotrophic waters) and just check if it holds (it doesn't). 🧪🌊

Link: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Our paper describing a new species of Pascua goby from the Coral Sea has been selected as en Editors Choice Article in Fishes. Apart from being fabulous, these fish are cool because they show that the genus has two groups of species separated by >5000km of the Pacific! www.mdpi.com/3483974 #fishes

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

royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

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#coralreefs #coralresearch #coral #networking #careers #job #science #jobopportunities #marinescience #coralreefecology #marinebiology

** PAPER ALERT ** The future of #coralreefs does not have to be doom & gloom. Just out in npj Ocean Sustainability, we imagine coral reef futures offering alternatives aspiring to sustainability and equity for coral reefs. Read the open access paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

A spherical burnt-orange brain coral sits on a sandy ocean floor, surrounded by red sediment-laden algal turf.

A sandy ocean floor with sparse growth, showing that it is dominated by a carpet of turf algae.

LSATs: Same name, different stressors.

While “the LSATs” are a stressful exam for law school applicants, these LSATs—long sediment-laden algal turfs—are a major stressor for Florida’s coral reefs. More on the turf trap and next steps for a coral recovery rut: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-stor...

Fossil otolith assemblages reveal millennial-scale changes in reef fish biomass and trophic structure across the Isthmus of Panama Abstract. Human activities have disrupted food webs across ecosystems, but opportunities to quantify pre-impact baselines are rare. Here, we present a nove

royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...

Is there a link for this? Seems like an interesting opportunity!

David Suggett gets into the value of coral ecosystems for people worldwide. Restoration projects can provide immense value to local communities through bringing local communities together & restoring ecosystem structure and function.

🪸🐠🌍

E1: Sports with a purpose - electric boat racing series similar to Formula E (from #FormulaOne).

This comes from an evolution of racing sports shifting to electric & hydrogen-run, with a focus on locations to bring attention to climate change. A big shift in sports racing

The 5 key sectors, perhaps pillars, of the #BlueEconomy are Ocean Energy, Blue Superfoods, Natural Capital, Genetic & Natural Products, & Ocean Data & Digital Services drive this - incorporating and fully integrating the #BlueEconomy could have huge economic returns (5:1 benefit:cost ratio)

The Regenerative #BlueEconomy - treating ocean health and economic development as compatible.

One of our grand challenges is working to keep the Blue Acceleration aligned with healthy and functioning oceans.

Great intro by @carlosduartephd.bsky.social

Coral reefs have fuelled severe global warming in Earth's past Over the past 250 million years, periods when coral reef growth has peaked have coincided with big rises in sea temperatures

Over the past 250 million years, periods when coral reef growth has peaked have coincided with big rises in sea temperatures

Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover Program, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A goliath grouper with a diver swimming behind it, highlighting the massive size these fish can reach

When we think about fish large enough to attack people, sharks are usually what comes to mind. However, there is one fish in the ocean that even most sharks would choose to leave alone. And that is the goliath grouper, a fitting choice for #FishOfTheWeek
1/6

Check out our latest publication from the #FREE group at #CESAB taking a functional and trait perspective on classic metapopulation ecology led by @nmouquet.bsky.social 🧪🌐

A Bayesian model for assessing organic matter supply in complex marine food webs using amino acid stable isotope analysis peerj.com/articles/202... via @PeerJLife #stableisotopes

Reef Exchanges Podcast | Reef Resilience Network

A new Reef Exchanges episode dives into how #MERMAID grew from simple spreadsheets into a global tool helping scientists and MPA teams collect and report coral reef data more efficiently.
Happy to support this effort through several @blueactionfund.org grants.
reefresilience.org/reefexchange...

🔥 New post! | Beyond science: Traits that drive success in marine conservation | 👉 https://www.conservation-careers.com/interviews/beyond-science-traits-that-drive-success-in-marine-conservation/
#ConservationCareers #ConservationJobs

The value of field research in academia From anthropology to zoology, immersion within communities, cultural settings, and study systems is integral to research and learning (1, 2). Fieldwork, the direct observation and collection of data i...

Strongly agree with this letter in Science arguing that field-based research should be more highly and fairly valued in academia. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🚨🎉 Check out our new paper assessing the impacts of fishing (🎣) and climate change (🌡️) on carbon export and sequestration by commercial fish! 🐟
🔗 rdcu.be/eMTU6
🔽 Here are some key results! 🔽

@oceanicu.bsky.social
@natcomms.nature.com
🌐🦑🦈🌊

1/9

I am pleased to announce the publication of the most extensive assessment of the coral reefs of Thailand conducted to date! This took years of work, but we are now placed for conservation action to embrace the nuances and complexity of reef ecosystems!

Link in the comments!

#MarineEcology 🌐🌏🪸🌊🦑

The circular seabird economy is critical for oceans, islands and people - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Seabirds are top predators and nutrient cyclers in marine island ecosystems, but are threatened by risk of extinction. This Review explores the circular seabird economy around islands and discusses ho...

Our new review on the “circular seabird economy”
- how seabirds circulate nutrients betwem ocean and land, supporting ecosystems and livelihoods …https://www.nature.com/articles/s44358-025-00099-w

Hot off the press is the final chapter of my dissertation now published in @pnas.org Here, I explore the genetic drivers of extreme body size reduction using goby fishes as a model. I'll write up a short summary thread later tonight...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

hot off the press doi.org/10.1111/geb....
led by @oldenfish.bsky.social and featuring an array of fishy isotope folk funded by the CESAB programme of the @frbiodiv.bsky.social

The number of terrestrial vertebrate species highly thermally exposed (>25% range) over time versus the mean global terrestrial temperature anomaly (denoted by color scale of points).

One in six species on Earth experienced extraordinarily high temperatures across more than 25% of their range in 2024--the hottest year on record. For most, this was the second year of extreme heat, likely compounding risks. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

An Intergeneric Hybrid Between Historically Isolated Temperate and Tropical Jays Following Recent Range Expansion | doi.org/10.1002/ece3... | Ecology and Evolution | #ornithology 🪶

Fresh off the press! Our perspective in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com discusses the wealth of information on biodiversity contained in historical sources, and its integration for long-term ecological knowledge and biodiversity conservation. A thread on the paper and what led to it:
rdcu.be/eEcIt