Natalya Gallo

University of Bergen | UiB · Department of Biological Science

The deep-sea is rapidly losing oxygen, with profound implications for marine organisms. Within Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems, such as the California and the Benguela Current Ecosystems, an important question is how the ongoing expansion, intensification and shoaling of Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) will affect deep-sea fishes throughout their li...

Below the surface layers of the ocean, there are ecosystems full of undiscovered life. Scientists love to ask questions like, “Who is there?” and “What are they doing?” An important question scientists are beginning to ask is, “How will these living things react to warmer waters, loss of oxygen, or pollution?” To answer these questions, scientists...

Hadal trenches, characterized by high hydrostatic pressures and low temperatures, are one of the most extreme environments on our planet. By examining the microbiome of abyssal and hadal fishes, we provide insight into the diversity and distribution of host-associated life at great depth.

As climate change and other anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems accelerate in the 21st century, there is an increasing need for sustained ocean time series. A robust and collaborative network of regional monitoring programs can detect early signs of unanticipated changes, provide a more holistic understanding of ecosystem responses, and prom...

Hadal snailfishes are the deepest-living fishes in the ocean, inhabiting trenches from depths of ∼6,000 to 8,000 m. While the microbial communities in trench environments have begun to be characterized, the microbes associated with hadal megafauna remain relatively unknown. Here, we describe the gut microbiomes of two hadal snailfishes, Pseudolipar...

The ocean plays a central role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, climate and ocean policies have been historically siloed. After decades of slow convergence, the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue, decided at COP25 and launched online in December 2020, was the first forum for Parties and non-Party stakeholders to the UNFCCC to gi...

Studies on the impacts of climate change typically focus on changes to mean conditions. However, animals live in temporally variable environments that give rise to different exposure histories that can potentially affect their sensitivities to climate change. Ocean deoxygenation has been observed in nearshore, upper-slope depths in the Southern Cal...

Abstract. Studies on the impacts of climate change typically focus on changes to mean conditions. However, animals live in temporally variable environments which give rise to different exposure histories that could affect sensitivities to climate change. Ocean deoxygenation has been observed in nearshore, upper-slope depths in the Southern Californ...

Natural gradient systems can be used to examine the vulnerability of deep-sea com- munities to climate change. The Gulf of California presents an ideal system for examining relation- ships between faunal patterns and environmental conditions of deep-sea communities because deep-sea conditions change from warm and oxygen-rich in the north to cold an...

Multidisciplinary ocean observing activities provide critical ocean information to satisfy ever-changing socioeconomic needs and require coordinated implementation. The upper oxycline (transition between high and low oxygen waters) is fundamentally important for the ecosystem structure and can be a useful proxy for multiple observing objectives con...

Multidisciplinary, integrated ocean observing programs provide critical data for monitoring the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) samples along the US West Coast and is one of the world's longest-running and most comprehensive time series, with hydrographic and biologic...

Hadal trenches are isolated habitats that cover the greatest ocean depths (6,500-11,000m) and are believed to host high levels of endemism across multiple taxa. A group of apparent hadal endemics is within the snailfishes (Liparidae), found in at least five geographically separated trenches. Little is known about their biology, let alone the reason...

Under the Paris Agreement nations made pledges known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), which indicate how national governments are evaluating climate risks and policy opportunities. We find that NDCs reveal important systematic patterns reflecting national interests and capabilities. Because the ocean plays critical roles in climate mi...

The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (MNM) currently extends policy-based protection to deep-sea ecosystems contained within it, but managers require better understanding of the current knowledge and knowledge gaps about these ecosystems to guide decision-making. To address this need, we present a case study of the Marianas Trench MNM using...

The deep sea science community has identified the deep pelagic ocean as a poorly understudied component of the marine environment. Biodiversity, distributions, and behaviors of deep pelagic macrofauna remain poorly known. However, existing deep submergence vehicles have underutilized capabilities to explore the water column, survey faunal distribut...

Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) and oxygen limited zones (OLZs) are important oceanographic features in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean, and are characterized by hypoxic conditions that are physiologically challenging for demersal fish. Thickness, depth of the upper boundary, minimum oxygen levels, local temperatures, and diurnal, seasonal, and...

Deep-sea trenches remain one of the least explored ocean ecosystems due to the unique challenges of sampling at great depths. Five submersible dives conducted using the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER submersible generated video of undisturbed deep-sea communities at bathyal (994 m), abyssal (3755 m), and hadal (8228 m) depths in the New Britain Trench, bathyal...

Coral reefs provide habitats for a disproportionate number of marine species relative to the small area of the oceans that they occupy. The mutualism between the cnidarian animal hosts and their intracellular dinoflagellate symbionts provides the nutritional foundation for coral growth and formation of reef structures, as algal photosynthesis can p...

In recent years, harmful algal blooms have become a significant global concern due to their increasing occurrence and negative environmental impact. The Chesapeake Bay represents a model for estuaries facing serious ecological problems due to the growing frequency of HABs. Microcystis aeruginosa is a prominent bloom former in the Bay. This cyanobac...

Blooms of harmful algae are characteristic of the Chesapeake and its tributaries, leading to dissolved oxygen problems, fish and crab mortalities, and in some cases, toxin production and threats to domestic animals and the public. Over the last 3 years, a technique has been developed to efficiently remove cyanobacteria from surface waters using mix...

The relationship between growth rate and environmental space is an unresolved issue in teleosts. While it is known from aquaculture studies that stocking density has a negative relationship to growth, the underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated, primarily because the growth rate of populations rather than individual fish were the subject of...