Tavares, A.I., Assis, J., Larkin, P.D., Creed, J.C., Magalhães, K., Horta, P., Engelen, A., Cardoso, N., Barbosa, C., Pontes, S. and Regalla, A., 2023. Long range gene flow beyond predictions from oceanographic transport in a tropical marine foundation species. Scientific Reports, 13(1), p.9112. Habitat-forming marine species, like seagrasses, corals and macroalgae have wide geographical ranges...
Blog
Detection of oomycetes on seagrasses using state-of-the-art Nanopore sequencing
In a short research project, Kaïn van Calcar, a BSc student at the University of Amsterdam, investigated the role of oomycetes in the decline of seagrass meadows. Seagrass meadows are essential for providing various ecosystem services, including acting as habitats for marine organisms and effectively storing carbon. Unfortunately, these meadows have been experiencing a rapid worldwide decline....
Exploring the Microbial World for Marine Community Restoration
The recent ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain was an exciting platform for researchers to delve into the fascinating realm of host-microbiome interactions and their role in protecting and restoring marine ecosystems. As the chair of the session, I had the privilege of witnessing groundbreaking presentations that shed light on the hidden world of microbes and their...
Conservation and restoration of marine forests, from deep sea coral reefs to seagrass meadows
What are marine forests? Marine forests are biodiverse-rich ecosystems engineered by key structural taxa of macroalgae, seagrass and corals. Depending on the keystone taxa, we can separate them in three main ecosystems: seaweed banks, seagrass meadows and coral reefs. Seagrass meadows Seagrasses are marine flowering plants rooted to the seafloor. They can grow over large areas, creating...
The importance of kelp microbiomes
Hello! I am Sofie, a PhD student at the University of Ghent, currently working on unravelling the role Laminaria ochroleuca’s microbiome plays in its growth and development. Laminaria ochroleuca, also known as the golden kelp, is a temperate brown seaweed species, mainly found in the coastal waters of Europe ranging from the UK to Morocco (1,2). It plays an important role in rocky shore...
Swimming amongst seagrasses
It’s mid-October in Sardinia, and the once packed beaches in the Summer, are bare and wild. It’s windy and not necessarily warm, but I can’t resist jumping in the water for a little snorkelling session in the crystalline turquoise waters Sardinia is known for. Me walking along the Li Itriceddi beach in Sardinia. Seagrass patches are visible amongst the rocks. The moment I put my head underwater...