Based on: Gouveia, A., Godefroid, M., Dubois, P., Espino, F., Tuya, F., Haroun, R., Herrera, A. and Otero-Ferrer, F., 2023. Thermal stress response of Antipathella wollastoni (Gray, 1857) from the Canary Islands archipelago. Coral Reefs, pp.1-7. In the cool, shadowy depths of Macaronesian waters, the black coral Antipathella wollastoni faces a crucial test—the rising temperatures of the ocean....
Based on: 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...
All organisms leave a trace of DNA in the environment that they inhabit, including those living in the ocean. We call this type of DNA, environmental DNA (eDNA). Example sources of eDNA include, but are not limited to, faeces, mucus, gametes, shed skin and dead cells. We can sample this DNA and analyse it to figure out who was there! In our case, we will use eDNA to study the biodiversity in...
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....
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...
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...