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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Giant barrel sponges at ∼20 m depth on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef off the coast of Belize (Carrie Bow Cay). This fore-reef habitat, once populated primarily by reef-building hard corals, is increasingly dominated by barrel sponges. Pawlik (jeb250082) reviews the importance of great barrel sponges as ecosystem engineers, explaining how they pump huge volumes of seawater and alter dissolved and particulate constituents in the process. If great barrel sponges continue to tolerate higher seawater temperatures, they will become the greatest source of habitat complexity on tropical reefs of the future. Photo credit: Joseph Pawlik.
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INSIDE JEB
REVIEWS
Foldable insect wings: from folding and unfolding mechanisms to inspired applications
Summary: A summary of the folding and unfolding mechanisms of various insects’ wings with a review of the current and potential applications inspired by these folding and unfolding mechanisms.
Ecosystem engineers on tropical reefs in transition: giant barrel sponges in the Anthropocene
Summary: Giant barrel sponges pump huge volumes of seawater, transforming seawater chemistry. They are becoming dominant habitat-forming organisms on tropical reefs worldwide.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Modelling endurance in free-ranging animals using tracking collars: insights from domestic hunting dogs
Summary: A new methodology to assess the endurance capacity of animals, allowing the study of when, where and how long animals experience fatigue in the wild.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
A multi-scaling approach showing a transient metabolic mismatch in a freshwater fish (Zingel asper) during an acute heat stress
Summary: An overview of the impacts of a heat stress on an endangered freshwater fish emphasizing the necessity for more integrative studies examining cellular and organismal levels, as well as the recovery period that follows this stress.
Gait compliance alters ground reaction forces in human walking: implications for the evolution of bipedalism
Summary: Experimental tests of ideas about how early human ancestors walked using a compliant gait and implications for the evolution of bipedalism in humans.
Dive-by-dive variation in the diving respiratory air volume of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina)
Summary: Elephant seals adjust their diving respiratory air volume (DRAV) depending on their tissue density and maximum dive depth. Adjusting DRAV regulates their net buoyancy during dives.
Temperature and precipitation explain variation in metabolic rate but not frequency of gas exchange in Fijian bees
Summary: Temperature and precipitation explain variation in Fijian bee metabolic rate, partially supporting the metabolic cold adaptation hypothesis. Aridity does not explain variation in frequency of gas exchange, rejecting the hygric hypothesis.
CRISPR/Cas9-mediated myostatin disruption elevates the expression of genes associated with myofiber composition and growth in Exopalaemon carinicauda
Summary: Knockout of the myostatin gene (EcMSTN) in Exopalaemon carinicauda via CRISPR/Cas9 resulted in increased body length and upregulated expression of genes associated with myofiber composition and growth, indicating that EcMSTN exerts a negative regulatory effect on growth in the prawn.
Optic flow, a rich source of optic information for harbour seals (Phoca vitulina)
Harbour seals precisely determine the direction of heading from optic flow simulations. Optic flow perception generally provides seals with access to a wealth of optic information valuable for visually guided behaviours.
Behavioural evidence of a humidistat: a temperature-compensating mechanism of hydroregulation in spotted salamanders
Spotted salamanders maintain hydration state by behaviourally defending a constant evaporative drive between temperatures.
Albumin is ubiquitously expressed in the dolphin body and upregulated by an extracellular albumin shortage
Summary: Albumin is ubiquitously expressed in dolphins. In cultured renal cells, expression is enhanced by albumin depletion from the medium, suggesting that albumin is critical for dolphin cells.
I can't hear you: effects of noise on auditory processing in mixed-species flocks
Summary: Songbird species differ in their ability to process signals in noise, mirroring patterns of auditory filter efficiency. Increasing anthropogenic noise may differentially impact species' acoustically mediated behaviors.
Relationship between joint shape and function as revealed through ex vivo XROMM
Summary: Experimental data measuring mobility across different types of limb joints in a mammal (opossum) and a reptile (tegu lizard) raise further questions on how well articular morphology predicts mobility.
Detecting artificially impaired balance in human locomotion: metrics, perturbation effects and detection thresholds
Step-width variability, step-time variability and foot placement predictability are better at detecting impaired balance than maximum Lyapunov exponent and margin of stability metrics when using steady-state walking data.
ECR SPOTLIGHTS
Harnessing physiological research for smarter environmental policy
In their Perspective, Alexia Dubuc and colleagues discuss strategies to strengthen collaboration, communication and engagement between physiological researchers and environmental policy makers to ensure that conservation strategies address the threats posed by climate change.
JEB grants to support junior faculty
Learn about the grants that we launched in 2023 to support junior faculty from two of our awardees: Erin Leonard, Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Visiting Fellowship recipient, and Pauline Fleischmann, Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grant recipient. The next deadline to apply is 28 November 2025.
Early testing could make risky falls a thing of the past for elderly people
Falls cost healthcare systems billions each year, but there may be a solution. Jiaen Wu and colleagues of Stanford University, USA, suggest that measuring the way someone walks before they get old might let doctors know who is at risk for a potentially life-threatening fall in the future.
Ecosystem engineers on tropical reefs in transition
Giant barrel sponges (GSBs) remain robust to rising seawater temperatures and have rapidly populated reefs stripped of coral cover by climate change. GBSs may be poised to become the dominant habitat-forming organisms in tropical reef ecosystems of the future. In this Review, Joseph Pawlik provides an integrative and critical assessment of research on giant barrel sponges.
Fast & Fair peer review
Our sister journal Biology Open has recently launched the next phase of their Fast & Fair peer review initiative: offering high-quality peer review within 7 working days. To learn more about BiO’s progress and future plans, read the Editorial by Daniel Gorelick, or visit the Fast & Fair peer review page.
