Zooplankton transfer substantial energy in aquatic food webs and are used as indicators of environmental change. Syntheses of zooplankton community dynamics globally require datasets that span a wide....

A new study combining NASA satellite observations, ocean surveys and genetic testing of marine microorganisms found evidence that warming ocean waters may be limiting nutrient availability across much of the global ocean. The researchers report that this nutrient stress affects microscopic marine organisms and could influence marine ecosystems over time.

PACE, launching in 2022, will extend and improve NASA's over 20-year record of satellite observations of global ocean biology, aerosols, and clouds

MIT scientists find climate change is altering the nutritional composition of phytoplankton with profound consequences for food web.

The fishery is regulated but experts say it is wrecking the food chain. Gordon Peake joined a Sea Shepherd mission to observe the giant ships compete for catch

Introduced species can wreak havoc on native ecosystems. Many states are flooding their waterways with them.

Scientists find out how the epic deep sea migration of a tiny animal is storing planet-warming carbon.

“The water is opening up, the ice is opening,” were the words an out of breath Kevin Fox was screaming as he was literally running for his life, Sunday afternoon, off the shores of Owen Sound.

Abstract. Reversed eutrophication, called oligotrophication, has been widely documented globally over the last 30 years in rivers, lakes, and estuaries. However, the absence of a comprehensive and harmonized dataset has hindered a deeper understanding of its ecological consequences. To address this data gap, we developed the OLIGOTREND database, which contains multi-decadal time series of chlorophyll a, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), and related physicochemical parameters, totalling 4.3 million observations. These data originate from 1894 unique monitoring locations across estuaries (n = 238), lakes (687), and rivers (969). Most time series cover the period from 1986–2022 and comprise at least 15 years of chlorophyll a observations. Each location is associated with catchment and hydroclimatic attributes. Trend and breakpoint analyses were applied to all time series. Chlorophyll a showed temporally variable and ecosystem-specific responses to nutrient declines with an overall declining trend for 18 % of the time series, contrasting greatly with a majority of declining trends for nutrient concentrations. We harmonized the database to ensure reproducibility and ease of access and support future updates and contributions. Available at https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/a7ad060a4dbc4e7dfcb763a794506524 (Minaudo and Benito, 2024), the OLIGOTREND database supports collaborative efforts aimed at further advancing our understanding of biogeochemical and biological mechanisms underlining oligotrophication and ecological impacts of global long-term environmental change.

Defining the minimal genetic requirements for cellular life remains a fundamental question in biology. Genomic exploration continually reveals novel microbial lineages, often exhibiting extreme genome reduction, particularly within symbiotic relationships. Here, we report the discovery of Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, a novel archaeon with an unprecedentedly small genome of only 238 kbp —less than half the size of the smallest previously known archaeal genome— from a dinoflagellate-associated microbial community. Phylogenetic analyses place Sukunaarchaeum as a deeply branching lineage within the tree of Archaea, representing a novel major branch distinct from established phyla. Environmental sequence data indicate that sequences closely related to Sukunaarchaeum form a diverse and previously overlooked clade in microbial surveys. Its genome is profoundly stripped-down, lacking virtually all recognizable metabolic pathways, and primarily encoding the machinery for its replicative core: DNA replication, transcription, and translation. This suggests an unprecedented level of metabolic dependence on a host, a condition that challenges the functional distinctions between minimal cellular life and viruses. The discovery of Sukunaarchaeum pushes the conventional boundaries of cellular life and highlights the vast unexplored biological novelty within microbial interactions, suggesting that further exploration of symbiotic systems may reveal even more extraordinary life forms, reshaping our understanding of cellular evolution. ![Figure][1]</img> Graphical Abstract ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceJapan Society for the Promotion of Science, https://ror.org/00hhkn466, JP16H06280, 20H03305, 21K15131, 22KJ0401, 23K27226, 24K09587 Institute for FermentationInstitute for Fermentation, https://ror.org/05nq89q24, G-2025-2-067 the World Premier International Research Center Initiativethe World Premier International Research Center Initiative, , [1]: pending:yes

Copepods dominate zooplankton biomass of the upper ocean, especially in the highly seasonal northern boreal and Polar Regions, for which specific life-cycle ...