Macrophytes are important sources of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to littoral zones of lakes, but this DOC is believed to be mostly refractory to bacteria, leading to the hypothesis that bacterial metabolism is different in littoral and pelagic zones of a large subtropical shallow lake. We tested this hypothesis by three approaches: (I) dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) accumulation in littora...

Coastal food webs can be supported by local benthic or pelagic primary producers and by the import of organic matter. Distinguishing between these energy sources is essential for our understanding of ecosystem functioning. However, the relative contribution of these components to the food web at the landscape scale is often unclear, as many studies lack good taxonomic and spatial resolution acr...

Marine life is being affected by changes in ocean conditions resulting from changes in climate and chemistry triggered by combustion of fossil fuels. Shifting spatial distributions of fish species is a major observed and predicted impact of these oceanographic changes, and such shifts may modify fish community structure considerably in particular locations and regions. We projected future range...

Weddell Sea hydrography and circulation is driven by influx of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) at its eastern margin. Entrainment and upwelling of this high-nutrient, oxygen-depleted water mass within the Weddell Gyre also supports the mesopelagic ecosystem within the gyre and the rich benthic community along the Antarctic shelf. We used Conductivity-Te...

Dramatic population declines among species of pelagic shark as a result of overfishing have been reported, with some species now at a fraction of their historical biomass. Advanced telemetry techniques enable tracking of spatial dynamics and behaviour, providing fundamental information on habitat preferences of threatened species to aid conservation. We tracked movements of the highest pelagic ...

How do populations of highly mobile species inhabiting open environments become reproductively isolated and evolve into new species? We test the hypothesis that elevated ocean-surface temperatures can facilitate allopatry among pelagic populations and thus promote speciation. Oceanographic modelling has shown that increasing surface temperatures cause localization and reduction of upwelling, le...

Pelagic longline gear had several independent evolutions, but the most widespread form appears to have been originally developed by the Japanese as early as the mid-19th century. Technological developments such as polyamide monofilament line and modern fishing vessel construction have resulted in the evolution and expansion of this gear type as the primary worldwide method of commercially harve...

1. The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is one of the most successful invasive species; it has colonised many aquatic systems in Europe and North America with strong impacts on various ecosystem processes. The effect of D. polymorpha filtration on pelagic seston concentrations has been quantified in several studies, but the magnitude and stoichiometry of the transfer of sestonic biomass into...

The bivalve Macoma balthica migrates twice during the benthic part of its life cycle. During the spring migration (May–June), the newly settled spat (0-group) migrates to the nurseries in the high intertidal. Seven to nine months later, the bivalves migrate back to the low tidal flats and the subtidal (winter migration, 1-group). Both 0and 1-group M. balthica use byssus threads for active pelag...

The HNLC waters of the Gulf of Alaska normally receive too little iron for primary productivity to draw down silicate and nitrate in surface waters, even in spring and summer. Our observations of chlorophyll sensed by SeaWiFS north of 54 N in pelagic waters (>500 m depth) of the gulf found that, on average, more than half of all surface chlorophyll was inside the 4 cm contours of anticyclonic m...