Global environmental changes are challenging the structure and functioning of ecosystems. However, a mechanistic understanding of how global environmental changes will affect ecosystems is still lacking. The complex and interacting biological and physical processes spanning vast temporal and spatial scales that constitute an ecosystem make this a formidable problem. There is thus the need to combine the study of evolution, together with metabolism and climate change. To study these interactions, a framework based on theoretical ecology that considers fundamental and realized niches, appears to be a promising approach.

This paper arose from the fifth IMBeR IMBIZO meeting: Marine biosphere research for a sustainable ocean: Linking ecosystems, future states and resource management, hosted by the Ocean, Carbon & Biogeochemistry Group at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in October 2017, with a format of three concurrent, interacting workshops. In particular, this work was generated from the working group from Workshop 2: Metabolic diversity and evolution in marine biogeochemical cycling and ocean ecosystem processes.

IMBeR officially launched its latest programme dedicated to students and early career researchers. The Interdisciplinary Marine Early Career Network (IMECaN) provides a networking platform, training programmes, and leadership opportunities for early career marine researchers. The official launch happened at a workshop at the Future Oceans2 Open Science Conference in Brest, France on 16 June 2019. The workshop focused on career development paths for marine researchers, and using infographics in research outputs.

IMECaN has lots of plans for the future, and will be providing training and development in areas not traditionally provided through formal curricula.

IMECaN currently has members in 59 countries and we hope to encourage more people to join up – so help us spread the news. More info about IMECaN and  sign up to receive updates on activities and events organised by IMECaN.

The Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) held its 7^th open science conference in Sapporo, Japan from 21-25 April 2019. Members of IMBeR Japan Committee, Jun Nishioka, Koji Suzuki and Masahiko Fujii from Hokkaido University, and Atsushi Tsuda from the University of Tokyo, attended the conference and presented an IMBeR poster highlighting the collaboration between IMBeR and SOLAS, including new research successes and trends.

The state of ocean CO2 uptake

The ocean is an important sink for anthropogenic CO₂. From the beginning of the industrial revolution to the mid-1990s roughly 30% of our emissions have been absorbed by the oceans. This process is an important moderator of climate change, but can we count on it to remain as strong in the future? Gruber et al. calculated the ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ for the interval from 1994 to 2007, which continued as expected. They also observed clear regional deviations from this pattern, suggesting that there is no guarantee that uptake will remain as robust going forward

Marine heatwaves (MHW) are periods of above average temperatures (above the expected 90th percentile) that persist for more than 5 days in a region. They provide an unwanted look at how the ocean might respond to temperatures that exceed the 2C target for limiting global warming. A study by an international team of researchers including IMBeR SSC member Alistair Hobday published a global review of the impact of MHW on species and habitats. damage marine heatwaves are causing to the marine environment wherever they occur. The research in Nature Climate Change demonstrates periods of extreme temperatures can cause rapid loss of marine habitat, local extinctions, reduced fisheries catches and altered ocean food webs. Regardless of where MHW had occurred, they had negative and often detrimental effects on all kinds of marine organisms, including plankton, seaweed, coral, fish, birds and mammals. Impacts on marine life were more severe at the warm part of the species range, as heatwaves elevate already relatively warm temperatures. Studies like this one contribute to addressing IMBeR Grand Challenge 1 – understanding and quantifying the state and variability of marine ecosystems. Learn more about MHWs at www.marineheatwaves.org

IMBeR and the East China Normal University (ECNU) jointly established a regional office, the IMBeR Regional Project Office (IMBeR RPO), to promote IMBeR in the Asia-Pacific region and support the implementation of the IMBeR Science Plan. IMBeR and ECNU are looking to appoint an enthusiastic, organised, Administrative Assistant to work at the IMBeR RPO located at ECNU, Shanghai, China.