Sean D Connell

University of Adelaide · School of Biological Sciences

Predictions concerning the consequences of the oceanic uptake of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) have been primarily occupied with the effects of ocean acidification on calcifying organisms, particularly those critical to the formation of habitats (e.g. coral reefs) or their maintenance (e.g. grazing echinoderms). This focus overlooks d...

Disturbance often results in small changes in community structure, but the probability of transitioning to contrasting states increases when multiple disturbances combine. Nevertheless, we have limited insights into the mechanisms that stabilise communities, particularly how perturbations can be absorbed without restructuring (i.e. resistance). Her...

Ecologists seem predisposed to studying change because we are intuitively interested in dynamic systems, including their vulnerability to human disturbance. We contrast this disposition with the value of studying processes that work against change. Although powerful, processes that counter disturbance often go unexplored because they yield no obser...

Reduction in seawater pH due to rising levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) in the world's oceans is a major force set to shape the future of marine ecosystems and the ecological services they provide [1,2]. In particular, ocean acidification is predicted to have a detrimental effect on the physiology of calcifying organisms [3]. Yet, the i...

Global change stressors can modify ecological niches of species, thereby altering ecological interactions within communities and food webs. Yet, some species might take advantage of a fast‐changing environment, allowing species with high niche plasticity to thrive under climate change. We used natural CO2 vents to test the effects of ocean acidific...

Anthropogenic noise is rising and may interfere with natural acoustic cues used by organisms to recruit. Newly developed acoustic technology provides enriched settlement cues to boost recruitment of target organisms navigating to restoration sites, but can it boost recruitment in noise-polluted sites? To address this dilemma, we coupled replicated...

Functionally extinct ecosystems, those that have been locally eradicated save for remnant individuals, are unlikely to naturally recover over meaningful human time frames. However, ecosystem restoration provides opportunities to reverse functional extinction by rapidly addressing the physical and/or biological barriers that prevent natural recovery...

Reproducibility is a persistent concern in science and recently attracts considerable attention in assessing biological responses to ocean acidification. Here we track the reproducibility of the harmful effects of ocean acidification on calcification of shell-building organisms by conducting a meta-analysis of 373 studies across 24 years. The pione...

Unprecedented levels of plastics are entering coastal seas, which are already subject to another insidious pollutant: excess nitrogen. Both pollutants were created to enhance human well‐being on land but once in the sea they impair the function of filter‐feeding organisms that help maintain coastal water quality. We conceptualized evidence to show...

Techniques that enhance the recruitment of foundation species to restoration sites can inform the ecological development of the restored habitat. However, techniques are often considered in isolation, potentially overlooking synergies from combining them. Native oyster reefs have been lost worldwide, resulting in restoration efforts in systems that...

Long-term environmental change, sudden pulses of extreme perturbation, or a combination of both can trigger regime shifts by changing the processes and feedbacks which determine community assembly, structure, and function, altering the state of ecosystems. Our understanding of the mechanisms that stabilise against regime shifts or lock communities...

Marine soundscapes provide important navigational cues to dispersing larvae in search of suitable habitat. Yet, widespread habitat loss has degraded marine soundscapes and their functional role in recruitment. Habitat restoration efforts can provide suitable substrate for habitat regeneration, such as constructing reefs to facilitate recruitment an...

The paradigm that climate change will alter global marine biodiversity is one of the most widely accepted. Yet, its predictions remain difficult to test because laboratory systems are inadequate at incorporating ecological complexity, and common biodiversity metrics have varying sensitivity to detect change. Here, we test for the prevalence of glob...

Achieving a sustainable socioecological future now requires large‐scale environmental repair across legislative borders. Yet, enabling large‐scale conservation is complicated by policy‐making processes that are disconnected from socioeconomic interests, multiple sources of knowledge, and differing applications of policy. We considered how a multidi...

Ocean acidification is considered detrimental to marine calcifiers, but mounting contradictory evidence suggests a need to revisit this concept. This systematic review and meta‐analysis aim to critically re‐evaluate the prevailing paradigm of negative effects of ocean acidification on calcifiers. Based on 5153 observations from 985 studies, many ca...

Marine ecosystem restoration is fast becoming the primary tool for repairing the socio-ecological functions and economic benefits of coastal ecosystems. Healthy seascapes are characterized by many interacting species and intermingled habitats (e.g., seagrass, kelp, shellfish, sedimentary) that co-create ecological functions of substantial socio-eco...

The restoration of marine habitats is becoming a primary strategy for managing healthy coastal ecosystems, but initiatives often fail due to conflicts with social or industry activities. Confronting the challenge of expanding marine restoration for the ‘Ocean Decade’, this paper explores the ways that researchers could improve the way Governments a...

Marine soundscapes provide navigational information for dispersing organisms, but with wide‐scale habitat loss, these soundscapes are becoming muted. Consequently, dispersing larvae that use soundscapes for navigation may be lost at sea, limiting the success of restoration efforts that rely upon the recruitment of dispersing organisms to restore ha...

Marine predators recovering from historic, commercial, over-harvesting can create conservation challenges when they prey on vulnerable species. Pinniped predation of seabirds presents one such challenge and identifying the source colonies experiencing seal predation are needed to inform conservation management and decision planning. Here, we presen...

Everyone has an opportunity to contribute to climate solutions. To help people engage with this opportunity, it is critical to understand how climate organizations and fundraisers can best communicate with people and win their financial support. In particular, fundraisers often rely on practical skills and anecdotal beliefs at the expense of scient...

Natural selection alters the distribution of phenotypes as animals adjust their behaviour and physiology to environmental change. We have little understanding of the magnitude and direction of environmental filtering of phenotypes, and therefore how species might adapt to future climate, as trait selection under future conditions is challenging to...

Ocean acidification can cause dissolution of calcium carbonate minerals in biologi- cal structures of many marine organisms, which can be exacerbated by warming. However, it is still unclear whether this also affects organisms that have body parts made of calcium phosphate minerals (e.g. shark teeth), which may also be impacted by the ‘corrosive’ e...

Scientific publications are the building blocks of discovery and collaboration, but their impact is limited by the style in which they are traditionally written. Recently, many authors have called for a switch to an engaging, accessible writing style. Here, we experimentally test how readers respond to such a style. We hypothesized that scientific...

Restoration is criticized as ineffectively small scale, a smoke screen against global-scale action. Yet, large-scale solutions arise from small-scale successes, which inject social values and optimism needed for global investment. Human values are central to achieving socio-ecological sustainability; understanding human behavior is now arguably mor...

Humanity’s ambitions to revive ecosystems at large scales require solutions to move restoration efforts beyond the small scale. There are increasing calls for technological solutions to reduce costs and facilitate large‐scale restoration through the use of emerging technologies using an adaptive process of research and development. We show how tech...

Negative interactions among species are a major force shaping natural communities and are predicted to strengthen as climate change intensifies. Similarly, positive interactions are anticipated to intensify and could buffer the consequences of climate-driven disturbances. We used in situ experiments at volcanic CO 2 vents within a temperate rocky r...

The ongoing crises in environment and public health have uncovered an opportunity for innovation. Yet, if we are serious about improving the human and more-than-human natural worlds, societies and institutions need a new mindset. One potential mindset is offered by the emerging science of animal sentience, defined as the capacity to feel emotion, p...

Volcanic CO2 seeps are natural laboratories that can provide insights into the adaptation of species to ocean acidification. Whilst many species are challenged by reduced pH levels, some species benefit from the altered environment and thrive. Here, we explore the molecular mechanisms of adaptation to ocean acidification in a population of a temper...

Poleward range extensions by warm-adapted sea urchins are switching temperate marine ecosystems from kelp-dominated to barren-dominated systems that favour the establishment of range-extending tropical fishes. Yet, such tropicalization may be buffered by ocean acidification, which reduces urchin grazing performance and the urchin barrens that tropi...

World‐class science requires inspiration, so how can we spark creativity in the modern university environment? Creativity does not come automatically: in the modern age, factors from electronic devices to time pressure can stifle creative thought. Yet, to solve the major problems of the future, it will be essential to stimulate creativity in scient...

Ocean warming is predicted to challenge the persistence of a variety of marine organisms, especially when combined with ocean acidification. Whilst temperature affects virtually all physiological processes, the extent to which thermal history mediates the adaptive capacity of marine organisms to climate change has been largely overlooked. Using pop...

Ocean acidification affects species populations and biodiversity through direct negative effects on physiology and behaviour. The indirect effects of elevated CO2 are less well known and can sometimes be counterintuitive. Reproduction lies at the crux of species population replenishment, but we do not know how ocean acidification affects reproducti...

Setting accomplishable goals for managing environmental health might be more effective where the environmental goals align with social interests. Engaging community stakeholders in the decision-making process allows social knowledge, expectations and concerns to inform planning. This inclusion reduces the risk of community or political backlash to...

Non‐native species that act as ecosystem engineers – creating new or reintroducing former habitats – challenge perceptions in conservation and restoration. In the wake of the loss of oyster reefs worldwide, non‐native Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas) are now spreading extensively across the former distributions of native reef‐building oyster speci...

Seagrass meadows are habitat for an abundance and diversity of animal life, and their continuing global loss has focused effort on their restoration. This restoration not only aims to re‐establish the structure of the seagrass, but also to restore its function, particularly as habitat. The success of seagrass restoration is typically measured by th...

Inflexible webs It is clear that human activities are negatively affecting current ecosystems. Predicting how our activities will affect future systems is more challenging because it involves estimating the unknown. Nagelkerken et al. overcame some of these unknowns by constructing small versions, or mesocosms, of a marine ecosystem that included s...

A multi‐species approach to habitat restoration may boost the key processes (e.g. recruitment) that enable foundation species to overcome barriers to recovery. Natural systems tend to be formed by co‐occurring foundation species whose synergy drives ecological productivity and resilience beyond that of single foundation species. Yet, restoration re...

Ocean acidification is considered detrimental to marine calcifiers based on laboratory studies showing that increased seawater acidity weakens their ability to build calcareous shells needed for growth and protection. In the natural environment, however, the effects of ocean acidification are subject to ecological and evolutionary processes that ma...

The ocean provides resources key to human health and well-being, including food, oxygen, livelihoods, blue spaces, and medicines. The global threat to these resources posed by accelerating ocean acidification is becoming increasingly evident as the world’s oceans absorb carbon dioxide emissions. While ocean acidification was initially perceived as...

Accelerating CO2 emissions have driven physico-chemical changes in the world's oceans, such as ocean acidification and warming. How marine organisms adjust or succumb to such environmental changes may be determined by their ability to balance energy intake against expenditure (i.e. energy budget) as energy supports physiological functions, includin...

Reducing uncertainty surrounding the biological responses of degraded habitat is key to providing confidence and efficiency in its restoration. Many coastal habitats are so extensively degraded that organismal responses to restoration interventions are entirely unknown. Among the most degraded coastal ecosystems are oyster reefs, whose restoration...

Is ecology, as a science, doing enough to address big environmental problems? Here, a review of the top 40 ecology journals suggests not. As ecologists, we have the opportunity to reinforce the relevancy of ecology to society through greater promotion and execution of solution-focused science.

Under climate change, many species are increasingly exposed to heatwaves, including marine species. Although marine species are expected to succumb to heatwaves, there is increasing interest in understanding why some can persist. As heatwaves can greatly elevate intertidal seawater temperature, we explore reasons for variation in biological perform...

People will pay to protect our environment. To encourage donations, it is fundamental to understand the values that motivate people. Here, we identify a new opportunity to attract donations from an emerging social movement to deliver benefits to the natural world.

Environmental solutions require a decision‐making process that is ultimately political, in that they involve decisions with uncertain outcomes and stakeholders with conflicting viewpoints. If this process seeks broad alignment between the government and public, then reconciling conflicting viewpoints is a key to the legitimacy of these decisions. W...

11 measurable components of writing were combined into a single index and then related (multivariate) to the peer-influence (citation) of weak through strong papers.

Interactions in the Marine Benthos - edited by Stephen J. Hawkins August 2019

Ecklonia radiata is one of the most widespread kelps globally, dominating temperate reefs throughout much of Australasia and southeastern Africa. Throughout much of its range, it is the only laminarian kelp and hence plays a key role in facilitating biodiversity and driving food webs, and it underpins immense ecological and socioeconomic values. Th...

The ability of a community to absorb environmental change without undergoing structural modification is a hallmark of ecological resistance. The recognition that species interactions can stabilize community processes has led to the idea that the effects of climate change may be less than what most considerations currently allow. We tested whether h...

Increasing carbon emissions not only enrich oceans with CO2 but also make them more acidic. This acidifying process has caused considerable concern because laboratory studies show that ocean acidification impairs calcification (or shell building) and survival of calcifiers by the end of this century. Whether this impairment in shell building also o...

The adaptive capacity of individuals, from their cells to their overall performance, allows species to adjust to environmental change. We assess a hierarchy of responses (from cells to organismal growth and behaviour) to understand the flexibility of adaptive responses to future ocean conditions (warming and acidification) in two species of fish wi...

In this era of unprecedented environmental change, optimism could help unite people to act. In the present article, we bring together insights from psychology, business, politics, and media to illustrate humanity's innate attraction to optimism and the influence it can yield in driving positive change. We advocate for greater use of optimism in the...

Humans are changing the marine environment at an accelerating rate, causing species decline and loss of natural resources. But counter to these declining trends, some species appear to be thriving in response to environmental change. Focusing on three divergent taxa – algae, jellyfish, and cephalopods – we discuss the concept of adaptable “weedy sp...

The pervasive enrichment of CO2 in our oceans is a well‐documented stressor to marine life. Yet, there is little understanding about how CO2 affects species indirectly in naturally complex communities. Using natural CO2 vents, we investigated the indirect effects of CO2 enrichment through a marine food chain. We show how CO2 boosted the biomass of...

Aim Understanding the relative importance of climatic and non‐climatic distribution drivers for co‐occurring, functionally similar species is required to assess potential consequences of climate change. This understanding is, however, lacking for most ecosystems. We address this knowledge gap and forecast changes in distribution for habitat‐forming...

Long-term species responses to ocean acidification depend on their sensitivity during different life stages. We tested for sensitivity of juvenile fish behaviour to ocean acidification by exposing eggs to control and elevated CO 2 levels, and translocating offspring between treatments in a reciprocal design. After 12 weeks of exposure, activity, in...

Farming is a technique employed by both humans and animals to enhance crop yields, allowing their populations to increase beyond the natural carrying capacity of the environment. Using volcanic CO2 vents, we investigate how a species of herbivorous fish (the black scalyfin Parma alboscapularis) may use increasing anthropogenic CO2 emissions to enha...

Niche segregation allows competing species to capture resources in contrasting ways so they can co-exist and maintain diversity, yet global change is simplifying ecosystems and associated niche diversity. Whether climate perturbations alter niche occupancy among co-occurring species and affect species diversity is a key, but unanswered question. Us...

The CO2-boosted trophic transfer from primary producers to herbivores has been increasingly discovered at natural CO2 vents and in laboratory experiments. Despite the emerging knowledge of this boosting effect, we do not know the extent to which it may be enhanced or dampened by ocean warming. We investigated whether ocean acidification and warming...

Ecologically dominant species often define ecosystem states, but as human disturbances intensify, their subordinate counterparts increasingly displace them. We consider the duality of disturbance by examining how environmental drivers can simultaneously act as a stressor to dominant species and as a resource to subordinates. Using a model ecosystem...

Population replenishment of marine life largely depends on successful dispersal of larvae to suitable adult habitat. Ocean acidification alters behavioural responses to physical and chemical cues in marine animals, including the maladaptive deterrence of settlement-stage larval fish to odours of preferred habitat and attraction to odours of non-pre...

Urban and artificial structures are increasingly added to the world’s coasts during a time in which changing climate is forecast to drive shifts in naturally occurring habitats. We ask whether the role of artificial structures as marine habitats will increase in importance relative to their natural counterparts, particularly as natural habitats are...

Ecological complexity represents a network of interacting components that either propagate or counter the effects of environmental change on individuals and communities1–3. Yet, our understanding of the ecological imprint of ocean acidification (elevated CO2) and climate change (elevated temperature) is largely based on reports of negative effects...

Extreme climatic events, such as heatwaves, are predicted to be more prevalent in future due to global climate change. The devastating impacts of heatwaves on the survival of marine organisms may be further intensified by ocean acidification. Here, we tested the hypothesis that prolonged exposure to heatwave temperatures (24 °C, +3 °C summer seawat...

Many marine organisms produce calcareous shells as the key structure for defence, but the functionality of shells may be compromised by ocean acidification and warming. Nevertheless, calcifying organisms may adaptively modify their shell properties in response to these impacts. Here, we examined how reduced pH and elevated temperature affect shell...

Rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2)from fossil fuel combustion is acidifying our oceans [1,2. This acidification is expected to have negative effects on calcifying animals because it affects their ability to build shells [3,4. However, the effects of ocean acidification in natural environments, subject to ecological and evolutionary processes (su...

Artificial structures will be increasingly utilized to protect coastal infrastructure from sea-level rise and storms associated with climate change. Although it is well documented that the materials comprising artificial structures influence the composition of organisms that use them as habitat, little is known about how these materials may chemica...

Accelerating climate change is eroding the functioning and stability of ecosystems by weakening the interactions among species that stabilize biological communities against change [ 1 ]. A key challenge to forecasting the future of ecosystems centers on how to extrapolate results from short-term, single-species studies to community-level responses...

Good writing takes time, but in a research environment where speed is master, is it a superfluous pursuit? Scientists spend most of their working life writing, yet our writing style obstructs its key purpose: communication. We advocate more accessible prose that boosts the influence of our publications. For those who change, the proof of their succ...