Phys.org – Ecology

Giant viruses play a role in the survival of single-celled marine organisms called protists. These include algae, amoeba, and flagellates, that form the base of ocean food webs. And since these protists form an important […]

While kelp forests persist along northern Maine’s rocky coast, kelp abundance has declined by as much as 80% on the southern coast in recent decades. In its stead, carpet-like turf algae have moved in.This post […]

Just a few meters beneath the clear, blue waters of Okinawa, reef-building corals known as Scleractinia have quietly lived for centuries. Slowly, layer by layer, they have constructed intricate, rigid structures made of calcium carbonate […]

When Victoria Glynn came to Panama to study the effects of extreme ocean temperatures on coral reefs at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) as a pre-doctoral fellow in professor Rowan Barrett’s lab at McGill […]

University of Otago—Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka scientists have discovered that it takes mere minutes for a species of sex-changing fish to develop dominant behavior after a change in the pecking order.This post was originally published on […]

Some queens don’t rule nonstop. A new study from the University of California, Riverside shows that even bumble bee queens, the sole founders of their colonies, take regular breaks from reproduction—likely to avoid burning out […]

Coral reefs are likely one of the most common subjects of nature documentaries and hold special interest in the world for their diverse beauty and productivity. Often, they are depicted as a thriving oasis surrounded […]

A sweeping new study is helping pinpoint where whales, sharks, turtles, and other ocean giants need the most protection and where current efforts fall short.This post was originally published on this site

A multinational research team, including Professor David W Graham from Durham University’s Biosciences Department, have helped uncover a worrying new effect of climate change—the rise of antibiotic resistance in soil bacteria.This post was originally published […]

Where do you go when you’re a fish and you need a skincare treatment? Coral reefs contain natural “beauty salons,” lively social hubs of activity where fish “clients” swim up and wait to be serviced […]