Biodiversity

Healthy, productive and resilient marine ecosystems are essential to us as they provide economic, scientific, environmental, cultural and ecological benefits to the global human population. Each species has a vital role to play and altering this balance can have serious and sometimes unforeseen implications for the functioning, productivity and ability to withstand stress of the entire ecosystem.

Intensifying pressures from resource exploitation, habitat destruction, pollution and climate change are driving widespread declines in marine biodiversity. We are using our expertise to measure and investigate biodiversity across a range of biological scales, and explore the ecological processes and interactions that support biologically diverse and productive marine ecosystems. This will enable us to understand how and why marine ecosystems change through space and time and what drives their resilience or sensitivity to environmental stress.

Our research is also expanding understanding of the links between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the huge range of services and benefits that we derive from marine ecosystems, ranging from food provision to climate regulation and recreational opportunities.

Making a difference

Before we can identify the impact of human activities on marine ecosystems we first need to appreciate the extent to which marine biodiversity, community structure and ecosystem processes vary naturally through space and time. PML scientists are expanding this knowledge-base which will increase our ability to predict and ameliorate the consequences of human impacts on the marine environment and potentially help to incorporate the economic value of biodiversity into mainstream decision-making.

Current research topics include:

Air-sea gas exchange Aquaculture Capacity development Carbon and nutrient cycles Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Earth Observation Food security Invasive species Marine plastics Marine spatial planning Modelling the Marine Environment New technologies Ocean acidification Renewable energy Valuing the marine environment

Projects

Marine Ecosystems Research Programme (MERP)
Completed

Marine Ecosystems Research Programme (MERP)

Contact: Dr Paul Somerfield

The Marine Ecosystems Research Programme (MERP) will address key knowledge gaps in marine ecosystem research. By bringing together existing data...

Western Channel Observatory (WCO)

Western Channel Observatory (WCO)

Contact: Dr Tim Smyth

The Western Channel Observatory (WCO) is an oceanographic time-series and marine biodiversity reference site in the Western English Channel. In...

DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understanding marine biodiversity and assessing good Environment
Completed

DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understanding marine biodiversity and assessing good Environmental Status (DEVOTES)

Contact: Professor Melanie Austen

The objective of DEVOTES is to gain better understanding of the relationship between pressures from human activities and climatic influences, and...

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You may be interested in...

News

ChAOS cruise sets sail to study the Arctic Ocean

PML scientists today travel to the Arctic to study how environmental change is affecting the hidden world beneath the ice.

News

Light pollution impacts sealife as much as climate change

Scientists discover that light pollution has serious consequences for coastal animals, and it could get worse.

News

Fostering Europe-India links in marine science

This week PML scientists are in India for the second INDO-MARECLIM Winter School, held in Kochi.

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Selected key publications

Clarke KR, Gorley RN, Somerfield PJ, Warwick, RM. 2014. Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation, 3rd edn. PRIMER-E, Plymouth. 256 pp.

Somerfield PJ, Warwick RM. 2013. Meiofauna Techniques. Chapter 6 in: Eleftheriou A (ed) Methods for the study of Marine Benthos, 4th Edn. Wiley-Blackwell Ltd, Oxford. pp 253-284.

Gilbert JA, Steele JA, Caporaso JG, Steinbrück L, Reeder J, Temperton B, Huse S, McHardy A, Knight R, Joint IR, Somerfield P, Fuhrman JA, Field D. 2012. Defining seasonal marine microbial community dynamics. ISME Journal 6: 298-308.

Magurran AE, Baillie SR, Buckland ST, Dick JMcP, Elston DA, Scott EMS, Smith RI, Somerfield PJ, Watt A. 2010. Long-term datasets in biodiversity research and monitoring: assessing change in ecological communities through time. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25: 574-582.

Clarke KR, Somerfield PJ, Gorley RN. 2008. Testing of null hypotheses in exploratory community analyses: similarity profiles and biota-environment linkage. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 366:56-69.

Claudet J, Osenberg CW, Benedetti-Cecchi L, Domenici P, García-Charton JA, Pérez-Ruzafa A, Badalamenti F, Bayle-Sempere J, Bulleri F, Culioli J-M, Dimech M, Falcón JM, Guala I, Milazzo M, Sánchez-Meca J, Somerfield PJ, Stobart B, Vandeperre F, Planes S. 2008. Marine reserves: size does matter. Ecology Letters 11: 481-489.

Nagelkerken I, Blaber S, Bouillon S, Green P, Haywood M, Kirton LG, Meynecke J-O, Pawlik J, Penrose HM, Sasekumar A, Sivasothi N, Somerfield PJ. 2008. The habitat function of mangroves for terrestrial and marine fauna: a review. Aquatic Botany 89: 155-185.

Clarke KR, Somerfield PJ, Chapman MG. 2006. On resemblance measures for ecological studies, including taxonomic dissimilarities and a zero-adjusted Bray-Curtis measure for denuded assemblages. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 330: 55-80.

Warwick RM, Platt HM, Somerfield PJ. 1998. Freeliving marine nematodes. Part III. Monhysterids. Synopses of the British Fauna (New Series) No. 53. Field Studies Council, Shrewsbury, UK. 296pp.

Related recent publications

  1. Siegert, M; Atkinson, A; Banwell, A; Brandon, M; Convey, P; Davies, B; Downie, R; Edwards, T; Hubbard, B; Marshall, G; Rogelj, J; Rumble, J; Stroeve, J; Vaughan, D. 2019 The Antarctic Peninsula Under a 1.5°C Global Warming Scenario. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2019.00102
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  2. Sunday, JM; Fabricius, KE; Kroeker, KJ; Anderson, KM; Brown, NE; Barry, JP; Connell, SD; Dupont, S; Gaylord, B; Hall-Spencer, JM; Klinger, T; Milazzo, M; Munday, PL; Russell, BD; Sanford, E; Thiyagarajan, V; Vaughan, MLH; Widdicombe, S; Harley, CDG. 2017 Ocean acidification can mediate biodiversity shifts by changing biogenic habitat. Nature Climate Change, 7 (1). 81-85. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3161
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  3. Nelms, SE; Parry, HE; Bennett, KA; Galloway, TS; Godley, BJ; Santillo, D; Lindeque, PK. 2019 What goes in, must come out: Combining scat‐based molecular diet analysis and quantification of ingested microplastics in a marine top predator. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10 (10). 1712-1722. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13271
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  4. Ye, L; Chang, C‐W; Matsuzaki, SS; Takamura, N; Widdicombe, CE; Hsieh, C. 2019 Functional diversity promotes phytoplankton resource use efficiency. Journal of Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13192
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  5. Pittman, SJ; Rodwell, LD; Shellock, R; Williams, M; Attrill, MJ; Bedford, J; Curry, K; Fletcher, S; Gall, SC; Lowther, J; McQuatters-Gollop, A; Moseley, KL; Rees, SE. 2019 Marine parks for coastal cities: A concept for enhanced community well-being, prosperity and sustainable city living. Marine Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.02.012
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View our recent publications