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Patterns of movement of marine species can reflect strategies of reproduction and dispersal, species’ interactions, trophodynamics, and susceptibility to change, and thus critically inform how we manage populations and ecosystems. On coral reefs, the density and diversity of metazoan taxa is greatest in dead coral and rubble, which is suggested to fuel food webs from the bottom-up. Yet, biomass and secondary productivity in rubble is predominantly available in some of the smallest individuals, limiting how accessible this energy is to higher trophic levels. We address the bioavailability of motile coral reef cryptofauna based on small-scale patterns of emigration in rubble. We deployed modified RUbble Biodiversity Samplers (RUBS) and emergence traps in a shallow rubble patch at Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, to detect community-level differences in the directional influx of motile cryptofauna under five habitat accessibility regimes. The mean density (0.13–4.5 ind.cm-3) and biomass (0.14–5.2 mg.cm-3) of cryptofauna were high and varied depending on microhabitat accessibility. Emergent zooplankton represented a distinct community (dominated by the Appendicularia and Calanoida) with the lowest density and biomass, indicating constraints on nocturnal resource availability. Mean cryptofauna density and biomass were greatest when interstitial access within rubble was blocked, driven by the rapid proliferation of small harpacticoid copepods from the rubble surface, leading to trophic simplification. Individuals with high biomass (e.g., decapods, gobies, and echinoderms) were greatest when interstitial access within rubble was unrestricted. Treatments with a closed rubble surface did not differ from those completely open, suggesting that top-down predation does not diminish rubble-derived resources. Our results show that conspecific cues and species’ interactions (e.g., competition and predation) within rubble are most critical in shaping ecological outcomes within the cryptobiome. These findings have implications for prey accessibility through trophic and community size structuring in rubble, which may become increasingly relevant as benthic reef complexity shifts in the Anthropocene. We address the bioavailability of coral reef cryptofauna in rubble based on small-scale patterns of emigration. We adapted the accessibility of Rubble Biodiversity Samplers (RUBS), models used to standardise biodiversity sampling in rubble (Wolfe and Mumby 2020), to explore the local movement patterns of rubble-dwelling fauna, with inference to predation processes within and beyond the cryptobenthos. Five treatments were developed to detect community-level differences in the directional influx of motile cryptofauna under various habitat accessibility regimes. Four of these treatments were developed by modifying accessibility into RUBS (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4176644/files) to understand limitations on the directional influx and movement of cryptofauna within coral rubble patches using four treatments; (1) open (completely accessible), (2) interstitial access (top closed), (3) surficial access (sides and bottom closed), and (4) raised (above rubble substratum). The fifth treatment involved a series of emergence plankton traps, designed to target demersal cryptofauna that vertically migrate from within the rubble benthos at night, given emergent zooplankton biomass and diversity are greatest at night. Fieldwork was conducted over several weeks (11th September to 5th October 2021) in a shallow (~3–5 m depth) reef slope site on the southern margin of Heron Island (-23˚26.845’ S, 151˚54.732’ E), Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Fig. 1). All collections were conducted under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority permit G20/44613.1.

We studied if functional traits related to resource preemption (light and inorganic nutrients) exert control on space preemption of tropical seagrass meadows. Additionally, we studied if space preemption changed under different eutrophication scenarios. We took seagrass abundance data to study space preemption, seagrass traits data to study their effect on space preemption and eutrophication indicators to evaluate the level of eutrophication at each site/sampling event. The data was collected in Unguja Island (Zanzibar Archipealgo, Tanzania) in seven sites/sampling events (Harbor, Chapwani, Changuu, Bweleo, Fumba, Mangroves and Marumbi). Each site/sampling event comprised a subtidal seagrass meadow (2-4 meters depth) of around 2500 square meters, delimited by the coastline and a fringing reef. The data was taken between the 26.09.2016 to the 05.10.2016. In each site/sampling event, five 50 meters transects were deployed perpendicular to the coast and paralel to each other, approximately separated by 50 meters. The areas enclosed beweeen the transects were names A, B, C and D. Macroalgae biomass was collected as an indicator of eutrophication. Macroalgae biomass was quantified along five 50-m transects per site/sampling event, set perpendicular to the coast and parallel to each other, separated by ~50 meters. We collected the macroalgae present in three random 0.25x0.25 meters quadrats per transect. The macroalgae samples were cleaned of sediments and rinsed with water. They were then dried at 50°C in a forced air oven until constant dry weight. The macroalgae biomass was calculated as the grams of dry weight divided by the area of the quadrat (grams of dry weight per square meter).

Poleward range extensions by warm-adapted sea urchins are switching temperate marine ecosystems from kelp-dominated to barren-dominated systems that favour the establishment of range-extending tropical fishes. Yet, such tropicalization may be buffered by ocean acidification, which reduces urchin grazing performance and the urchin barrens that tropical range-extending fishes prefer. Using ecosystems experiencing natural warming and acidification, we show that ocean acidification could buffer warming-facilitated tropicalization by reducing urchin populations (by 87%) and inhibiting the formation of barrens. This buffering effect of CO2 enrichment was observed at natural CO2 vents that are associated with a shift from a barren-dominated to a turf-dominated state, which we found is less favourable to tropical fishes. Together, these observations suggest that ocean acidification may buffer the tropicalization effect of ocean warming against urchin barren formation via multiple processes (fewer urchins and barrens) and consequently slow the increasing rate of tropicalization of temperate fish communities. In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Gattuso et al, 2021) was used to compute a complete and consistent set of carbonate system variables, as described by Nisumaa et al. (2010). In this dataset the original values were archived in addition with the recalculated parameters (see related PI). The date of carbonate chemistry calculation by seacarb is 2021-07-26.

During three cruises in the Mid Atlantic Ridge area in 2016 and 2017, we studied the biomass of mesopelagic fish down to a depth of 600 m and identified and quantified the species composition of the catches. The biomass density was estimated considering the volume of water filtered by the cross-sectional area of the trawl blinded with 16 mm meshes (130 m–2), the distanced covered by the trawl (m) at a towing speed (transformed to m s–1) the effective tow time (min) and the catch (kg).

Marine prey and predators will respond to future climate through physiological and behavioral adjustments. However, our understanding of how such direct effects may shift the outcome of predator–prey interactions is still limited. Here, we investigate the effects of ocean warming and acidification on foraging behavior and biomass of a common prey (shrimps, Palaemon spp.) tested in large mesocosms harboring natural resources and habitats. Acidification did not alter foraging behavior in prey. Under warming, however, prey showed riskier behavior by foraging more actively and for longer time periods, even in the presence of a live predator. No effects of longer-term exposure to climate stressors were detected on prey biomass. Our findings suggest that ocean warming may increase the availability of some prey to predators via a behavioral pathway (i.e., increased risk-taking by prey), likely by elevating metabolic demand of prey species. In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Gattuso et al, 2020) was used to compute a complete and consistent set of carbonate system variables, as described by Nisumaa et al. (2010). In this dataset the original values were archived in addition with the recalculated parameters (see related PI). The date of carbonate chemistry calculation by seacarb is 2020-12-08.

This is the dataset used to analyse biomass of fauna collected in farmed and wild kelp at the West coast of Norway (Søre Sunnmøre) in April 2019. Coordinates are given in the fil. 

The Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean is experiencing major reductions in seasonal sea ice extent and increases in sea surface temperatures. One of the key uncertainties in this region is how the marine ecosystem will respond to seasonal shifts in the timing of spring sea ice retreat and/or delays in fall sea ice formation. Variations in upper ocean water hydrography, planktonic production, pelagic-benthic coupling and sediment carbon cycling are all influenced by sea ice and temperature change. To more systematically track the broad biological response to sea ice retreat and associated environmental change, an international consortium of scientists have developed a coordinated “Distributed Biological Observatory” (DBO) that includes selected biological measurements at multiple trophic levels, along with satellite and mooring measurements. The DBO currently focuses on five regional biological “hotspot” locations along a latitudinal gradient that allows for consistent sampling and monitoring at five biologically productive locations across a latitudinal gradient: DBO 1 (SLIP)-south of St. Lawrence Island (SLI), DBO2 (Chirikov)-north of SLI, DBO3 (southern Chukchi Sea), DBO4-NE Chukchi Sea,and DBO5-Barrow Canyon. This dataset contains benthic macroinfaunal population level from sediment samples collected at each station for the United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Healy cruise-Leg 1 in 2017, identified by station number (#), Station name (Stn. Name), Date (mm/dd/yy), latitude (°N), longitude (°W), and station depth (m). The following macroinfaunal parameters were determined: abundance, wet weight biomass (grams of wet weight per meters squared), dry weight biomass (grams of Carbon per meters squared), and taxon type.

This dataset gathers data used to determine the temporal variability of couplings between pelagic and benthic habitats for fish assemblages at five periods. Organic matter fluxes were assessed using stable isotopes analysis. Species relative biomass was considered to explore energy fluxes within the fish assemblage