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Abstract Protection from direct human impacts can safeguard marine life, yet ocean warming crosses marine protected area boundaries. Here, we test whether protection offers resilience to marine heatwaves from local to network scales. We examine 71,269 timeseries of population abundances for 2269 reef fish species surveyed in 357 protected versus 747 open sites worldwide. We quantify the stability of reef fish abundance from populations to metacommunities, considering responses of species and functional diversity including thermal affinity of different trophic groups. Overall, protection mitigates adverse effects of marine heatwaves on fish abundance, community stability, asynchronous fluctuations and functional richness. We find that local stability is positively related to distance from centers of high human density only in protected areas. We provide evidence that networks of protected areas have persistent reef fish communities in warming oceans by maintaining large populations and promoting stability at different levels of biological organization.

Climate change is altering the severity and intensity of extreme weather events. Occupying microhabitats that buffer extreme weather may help species avoid harsh environmental conditions. We describe the thermal microclimate of Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) and Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) burrows and quantify whether burrows are thermal refuges during extreme cold weather events. We further test for the effect of weather conditions and burrow characteristics on nest microclimate and buffering capacity during extreme cold weather. We find that both species actively breed in burrow microclimates that are below their lower critical temperatures, which may impose significant thermoregulatory costs. However, burrows do act as thermal refuges because nests are kept 7.4–8.0 °C warmer than ambient temperatures during extreme cold weather events. Overall, external temperature and wind speed were strong drivers of burrow temperature, but burrow and habitat characteristics did not explain the variability in burrow buffering capacity during extreme cold weather. Our results suggest that burrows may provide a direct line of defence for seabird chicks against cold events. Given the complex responses of burrow microclimates to extreme events, quantifying how changes in environmental conditions will impact burrow-nesting seabirds in the future is key.

Human pressures in the ocean are restructuring biological communities, driving non-random extinctions, and disrupting marine ecosystem functioning. In particular, fisheries bycatch, the incidental mortality of non-target species, is a major threat to seabirds worldwide. Direct bycatch data are often scarce. Instead, leveraging trait-based analyses with fine-scale fisheries data could answer fundamental questions about spatial patterns of bycatch-threatened species and facilitate targeted conservation strategies. Here, we combine a dataset of species' traits and distribution ranges for 361 seabird and sea duck species with spatially resolved fishing effort data for gillnet, longline, trawl, and purse seine gears. First, we quantify geographic patterns of seabird community traits. Second, we describe how community traits could shift under local extinction scenarios in areas where bycatch-threatened seabirds spatially overlap with fishing activities. These objectives allow us to highlight the collective contribution of species currently threatened from bycatch to ecosystem functioning. We reveal distinct spatial variation in the community weighted mean of five seabird traits (body mass, generation length, clutch size, diet guild, and foraging guild) are evident. Moreover, our results show that fisheries bycatch is selectively removing a distinct suite of traits from the community within particular oceanic regions. Specifically, fisheries bycatch is threatening species with larger body masses, slower reproductive speeds (smaller clutch sizes and longer generation lengths), and specialised diet and foraging guilds. The spatial non-uniformity of the community trait shifts suggests that within specific marine regions, communities have limited redundancy and therefore may have less insurance to buffer against declines in ecosystem functioning. Our extinction scenario warns that seabirds currently threatened from fisheries bycatch substantially contribute to community functional composition. Management actions that incorporate species’ traits and fine-scale fisheries datasets as tools for marine spatial planning will add an important dimension when evaluating the success of conservation initiatives.

Antarctic marine ectotherms live in the constant cold and are characterised by limited resilience to elevated temperature. Here we tested three of the central paradigms underlying this resilience. Firstly, we assessed the ability of eight species, from seven classes representing a range of functional groups, to survive, for 100 to 303 days, at temperatures 0 to 4 °C above previously calculated long-term temperature limits. Survivors were then tested for acclimation responses to acute warming and acclimatisation, in the field, was tested in the seastar Odontaster validus collected in different years, seasons and locations within Antarctica. Finally, we tested the importance of oxygen limitation in controlling upper thermal limits. We found that four of 11 species studied were able to survive for more than 245 days (245–303 days) at higher than previously recorded temperatures, between 6 and 10 °C. Only survivors of the anemone Urticinopsis antarctica did not acclimate CTmax and there was no evidence of acclimatisation in O. validus. We found species-specific effects of mild hyperoxia (30% oxygen) on survival duration, which was extended (two species), not changed (four species) or reduced (one species), re-enforcing that oxygen limitation is not universal in dictating thermal survival thresholds. Thermal sensitivity is clearly the product of multiple ecological and physiological capacities, and this diversity of response needs further investigation and interpretation to improve our ability to predict future patterns of biodiversity.

Trait-based approaches that complement taxonomy-based studies have increased in popularity among the scientific community over the last decades. The collection of biological and ecological characteristics of species (i.e., traits) provides insight into species and ecosystem vulnerability to environmental and anthropogenic changes, as well as ecosystem functioning. Here, we present the FUN Azores trait database, describe our approach, evaluate its scope, compare it to other marine trait databases, and explore the spatial distribution of its traits with “functional maps.” While most of the available trait databases to date contain essential information to understand the functional diversity of a taxonomic or functional group, our ecosystem-based approach provides a comprehensive assessment of diverse fauna (i.e., meio-, macro-, and megafauna) from benthic and pelagic environments in the Azores Marine Park; including ridges, seamounts, hydrothermal vents, and the overlying water column. We used a collaborative approach involving 30 researchers with different expertise to develop the FUN Azores database, which contains compiled data on 14 traits representing morphological, behavioral, and life history characteristics for 1,210 species across 10 phyla. The “functional maps” show a distinct distribution of the two most common size classes, suggesting different communities with different functionalities. The following traits had the best scoring coverage (i.e., >95% of the species scored): maximum body size, body form, skeleton material, feeding structure, motility, environmental position, substratum affinity, distribution, and depth range; while traits related to species behavior (e.g., sociability or aggregation tendencies) and life history (e.g., developmental mechanism) had lower scoring coverage, highlighting the need for further research to fill these knowledge gaps. We found a larger number of species in the benthic compared to the pelagic environment and differing species composition between areas within the Azores Marine Park resulting from varying biodiversity, ecosystem types, sampling effort, and methodologies used. The FUN Azores database will foster and facilitate trait-based approaches in the area, develop a framework for expansion of cross-ecosystem and cross-taxa trait databases elsewhere, and improve our ecological understanding of the Azores Marine Park and its conservation requirements.

Overgrazing of habitat-forming kelps by sea urchins is reshaping reef seascapes in many temperate regions. Loss of kelp, in particular as a food source, may alter individual consumer physiology, which in turn may impair their ability to respond to climate warming. Here, we measured the temperature dependence of absolute and mass-independent oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text]) using two different exposure protocols (acute exposure and temperature “ramping”), as proxies of realized physiology, between green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) populations from neighbouring barren and kelp habitats. Sea urchins from kelp habitats consumed 8%–78% more oxygen than sea urchins from barrens (across the range of temperatures tested (4–32 °C)) and had higher maximum [Formula: see text] values (by 26%). This was in part because kelp urchins typically had greater body masses. However, higher mass-independent [Formula: see text] values of kelp urchins suggest metabolic plasticity in response to habitat per se. In addition, the [Formula: see text] of sea urchins from kelp habitats was less sensitive to increases in temperature. We conclude that sea urchins from barren and kelp habitats of comparable body mass represent different energetic units. This highlights that habitat type can drive population-level variation that may shape urchins activities and environmental impact. Such variation should be integrated into energy-based models.

Species identity and richness both contribute biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships. Here the authors apply a decomposition approach inspired by the Price equation to a global dataset of reef fish community biomass, finding that increased richness and community compositions favouring large-bodied species enhance biomass.

The COVID-19 lockdown reduced human mobility and led to immediate insights into how humans impact nature. Yet the strongest ecological impacts are likely to come. As we emerge from the pandemic, governments should avoid prioritizing short-term economic gains that compromise ecosystems and the services they provide humanity. Instead, the pandemic can be a pivot point for societal transformation to value longer term ecosystem and economic sustainability.

Nicholas Payne et al. use physiological and population-level abundance data from 823 fish species to examine how heating tolerance scales at both the individual and population level. This study shows that heating tolerance declines in the lab and the wild at the same rate, and for a given temperature, individuals and populations from tropical areas have broader heating tolerances than temperate species.

Abstract Climate change and other anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity change are unequally distributed across the world. Overlap in the distributions of different drivers have important implications for biodiversity change attribution and the potential for interactive effects. However, the spatial relationships among different drivers and whether they differ between the terrestrial and marine realm has yet to be examined. We compiled global gridded datasets on climate change, land‐use, resource exploitation, pollution, alien species potential and human population density. We used multivariate statistics to examine the spatial relationships among the drivers and to characterize the typical combinations of drivers experienced by different regions of the world. We found stronger positive correlations among drivers in the terrestrial than in the marine realm, leading to areas with high intensities of multiple drivers on land. Climate change tended to be negatively correlated with other drivers in the terrestrial realm (e.g. in the tundra and boreal forest with high climate change but low human use and pollution), whereas the opposite was true in the marine realm (e.g. in the Indo‐Pacific with high climate change and high fishing). We show that different regions of the world can be defined by Anthropogenic Threat Complexes (ATCs), distinguished by different sets of drivers with varying intensities. We identify 11 ATCs that can be used to test hypotheses about patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem change, especially about the joint effects of multiple drivers. Our global analysis highlights the broad conservation priorities needed to mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic change, with different priorities emerging on land and in the ocean, and in different parts of the world.

Animal diversity, measured in numbers of species, is rapidly being lost to extinction. Here, Cooke et al. show that the diversity of ecological strategies employed by land mammals and birds is also expected to narrow towards small, fecund, insect-eating generalists with fast-paced life histories.

Fisheries bycatch, the incidental mortality of non-target species, is a global threat to seabirds and a major driver of their declines worldwide. Identifying the most vulnerable species is core to developing sustainable fisheries management strategies that aim to improve conservation outcomes. To advance this goal, we present a preliminary vulnerability framework for the context of bycatch mortality that integrates dimensions of species’ exposure (the extent a species’ range overlaps with fishing activities and the magnitude of activities experienced), sensitivity (a species’ likelihood of bycatch mortality when it interacts with fisheries), and adaptive capacity (the ability for populations to adapt and recover from bycatch mortalities). This allows us to classify species into five vulnerability classes. The framework combines species’ traits and distribution ranges for 341 seabirds, along with a spatially resolved fishing effort dataset. Overall, we find most species have high-vulnerability scores for the sensitivity and adaptive capacity dimensions. By contrast, exposure is more variable across species, and thus the median scores calculated within seabird families is low. We further find 46 species have high exposure to fishing activities, but are not identified as vulnerable to bycatch, whilst 133 species have lower exposure, but are vulnerable to bycatch. The framework has been valuable for revealing patterns between and within the vulnerability dimensions. Further methodological development, additional traits, and greater availability of threat data are required to advance the framework and provide a new lens for quantifying seabird bycatch vulnerability that complements existing efforts, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Like most ocean regions today, the European and contiguous seas experience cumulative impacts from local human activities and global pressures. They are largely in poor environmental condition with deteriorating trends. Despite several success stories, European policies for marine conservation fall short of being effective. Acknowledging the challenges for marine conservation, a 4-year multi-national network, MarCons, supported collaborative marine conservation efforts to bridge the gap between science, management and policy, aiming to contribute in reversing present negative trends. By consolidating a large network of more than 100 scientists from 26 countries, and conducting a series of workshops over 4 years (2016–2020), MarCons analyzed challenges, opportunities and obstacles for advancing marine conservation in the European and contiguous seas. Here, we synthesize the major issues that emerged from this analysis and make 12 key recommendations for policy makers, marine managers, and researchers. To increase the effectiveness of marine conservation planning, we recommend (1) designing coherent networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the framework of marine spatial planning (MSP) and applying systematic conservation planning principles, including re-evaluation of existing management zones, (2) designing MPA networks within a broader transboundary planning framework, and (3) implementing integrated land-freshwater-sea approaches. To address inadequate or poorly informed management, we recommend (4) developing and implementing adaptive management plans in all sites of the Natura 2000 European conservation network and revising the Natura 2000 framework, (5) embedding and implementing cumulative effects assessments into a risk management process and making them operational, and (6) promoting actions to reach ‘good environmental status’ in all European waters. To account for global change in conservation planning and management, we further recommend (7) developing conservation strategies to address the impacts of global change, for example identifying climate-change refugia as high priority conservation areas, and (8) incorporating biological invasions in conservation plans and prioritizing management actions to control invasive species. Finally, to improve current practices that may compromise the effectiveness of conservation actions, we recommend (9) reinforcing the collection of high-quality open-access data, (10) improving mechanisms for public participation in MPA planning and management, (11) prioritizing conservation goals in full collaboration with stakeholders, and (12) addressing gender inequality in marine sciences and conservation.

Ecologically distinct species - species with distinct trait combinations - are not directly prioritized in current conservation frameworks. The consequence of this blind spot means species with the most distinct ecological strategies might be lost. Here, we quantify ecological distinctiveness, based on six traits, for 10,960 bird and 5,278 mammal species, summarizing species-level ecological irreplaceability. We find that threatened birds and mammals are, on average, more ecologically distinct. Specific examples of ecologically distinct and highly threatened species are Great Indian Bustard, Amsterdam Albatross, Asian Elephant and Sumatran Rhinoceros. These species have potentially irreplaceable ecological roles and their loss could undermine the integrity of ecological processes and functions. Yet, we also identify ecologically distinct widespread generalists, such as Lesser Black-backed Gull and Wild Boar. These generalist species have distinct ecological strategies that allow them to thrive across multiple environments. Thus, we suggest that high ecological distinctiveness is associated with either high extinction risk or successful hyper-generalism. We also find that ecologically distinct species are generally charismatic (using a previous measure of public perceptions of charisma). We thus highlight a conservation opportunity: capitalizing on public preferences for charismatic species could provide support for the conservation of the most ecologically distinct birds and mammals. Overall, our prioritization framework supports the conservation of species with irreplaceable ecological strategies, complementing existing frameworks that target extinction risk and evolutionary distinctiveness.

Before visiting or leaving their remote island colonies, seabirds often engage in a behaviour termed ‘rafting’, where birds sit, often in groups, on the water close to the colony. Despite rafting being a widespread behaviour across many seabird taxa, the functional significance of rafting remains unknown. Here we combine global positioning system (GPS) tracks, observational and wind condition data to investigate correlates of rafting behaviour in Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) at a large colony on Skomer Island, Wales. We test (1) the influence of wind direction on rafting location and (2) whether raft size changes with respect to wind speed. Our approach further allows us to describe day-night trends in (3) raft distance from shore through time; (4) the number of birds present in the nearshore waters through time; and (5) spatial patterns of Manx shearwater rafts in marine waters adjacent to the breeding colony. We find no evidence that wind direction, for our study period, influences Manx shearwater rafting location, yet raft size marginally increases on windier days. We further find rafting birds closer to the shore at night than during the day. Thus, before sunset, birds form a “halo” around Skomer Island, but this halo disappears during the night as more individuals return from foraging trips and raft nearer the colony on Skomer Island. The halo pattern reforms before sunrise as rafts move away from land and birds leave for foraging. Our results suggest that wind conditions may not be as ecologically significant for rafting locations as previously suspected, but rafting behaviour may be especially important for avoiding predators and cleaning feathers.

Gecarcinid land crabs are ecosystem engineers playing an important role in nutrient recycling and seedling propagation in coastal forests. Given a predicted future decline in precipitation for the Caribbean, the effects of dehydration on feeding preferences of the black land crab Gecarcinus ruricola were investigated. G. ruricola were offered novel food items of lettuce, apple, or herring to test for food choice based on water and nutritional (energetic) content in single and multiple choice experimental designs. The effect of dehydration was incorporated by depriving crabs of water for 0, 4, or 8 days, leading to an average body water loss of 0%, 9%, and 17%, respectively, (crabs survived a body water loss of 23% + 2% and 14–16 days without access to water). The results were consistent between the single and multiple choice experiments: crabs consumed relatively more apple and fish and only small amounts of lettuce. Overall, no selective preferences were observed as a function of dehydration, but crabs did consume less dry food when deprived of water and an overall lower food intake with increasing dehydration levels occurred. The decrease in feeding was likely due to loss of water from the gut resulting in the inability to produce ample digestive juices. Future climatic predictions suggest a 25–50% decline in rainfall in the Caribbean, which may lead to a lower food intake by the crabs, resulting in compromised growth. The subsequent reduction in nutrient recycling highlights possible long-term effects on coastal ecosystems and highlights the importance of future work on climate relative behavioral interactions that influence ecosystem function.

Success and impact metrics in science are based on a system that perpetuates sexist and racist "rewards" by prioritizing citations and impact factors. These metrics are flawed and biased against already marginalized groups and fail to accurately capture the breadth of individuals' meaningful scientific impacts. We advocate shifting this outdated value system to advance science through principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We outline pathways for a paradigm shift in scientific values based on multidimensional mentorship and promoting mentee well-being. These actions will require collective efforts supported by academic leaders and administrators to drive essential systemic change.

Animal physiology, ecology and evolution are affected by temperature and it is expected that community structure will be strongly influenced by global warming. This is particularly relevant in the tropics, where organisms are already living close to their upper temperature limits and hence are highly vulnerable to rising temperature. Here we present data on upper temperature limits of 34 tropical marine ectotherm species from seven phyla living in intertidal and subtidal habitats. Short term thermal tolerances and vertical distributions were correlated, i.e., upper shore animals have higher thermal tolerance than lower shore and subtidal animals; however, animals, despite their respective tidal height, were susceptible to the same temperature in the long term. When temperatures were raised by 1°C hour(-1), the upper lethal temperature range of intertidal ectotherms was 41-52°C, but this range was narrower and reduced to 37-41°C in subtidal animals. The rate of temperature change, however, affected intertidal and subtidal animals differently. In chronic heating experiments when temperature was raised weekly or monthly instead of every hour, upper temperature limits of subtidal species decreased from 40°C to 35.4°C, while the decrease was more than 10°C in high shore organisms. Hence in the long term, activity and survival of tropical marine organisms could be compromised just 2-3°C above present seawater temperatures. Differences between animals from environments that experience different levels of temperature variability suggest that the physiological mechanisms underlying thermal sensitivity may vary at different rates of warming.