Contribution to the knowlegde of Galician xenoflora (NW Iberian Peninsula, Spain).

Information on 12 exotic plants of diverse interest for the Galician flora are presented. All of them were collected in Ribeira council (SW of the A Coruña province). The total includes 8 novelties at a regional level (Aeonium haworthii, Aloe mitriformis, Brugmansia × candida, Nephrolepis cordifolia, Osteospermum ecklonis, Pelargonium capitatum, Sedum mexicanum, Sparaxis tricolor), and 2 provincial novelties. In addition, information on two taxa hardly mentioned in the literature on Galician vascular flora is also included. All the cited specimens are deposited at the SANT Herbarium.

Global synchrony of an accelerating risein sea surface temperature

The oceans have shown a recent rapid and accelerating rise in temperature with, given the close link between temperature and marine organisms, pronounced effects on ecosystems. Here we describe for the first time a globally synchronous pattern of pulsed short period (�1 year long) emanations of warm sea surface temperature anomalies from tropical seas towards the poles on the shelf/slope with an intensification of the warming after the 1976/1977, 1986/1987 and 1997/1998 El Nin˜os. On the eastern margins of continents the anomalies propagate towards the poles in part by largely baroclinic boundary currents, reinforced by regional atmospheric warming. The processes contributing to the less continuous warm anomalies on western margins are linked to the transfer of warmth from adjacent western boundary currents. These climate induced events show a close parallelism with the timing of ecosystem changes in shelf seas, important for fisheries and ecosystem services, and melting of sea-ice.

Global latitudinal variations in marine copepod diversity and environmental factors

Latitudinal gradients in diversity are among the most striking features in ecology. For terrestrial species, climate (i.e. temperature and precipitation) is believed to exert a strong influence on the geographical distributions of diversity through its effects on energy availability. Here, we provide the first global description of geographical variation in the diversity of marine copepods, a key trophic link between phytoplankton and fish, in relation to environmental variables. We found a polar-tropical difference in copepod diversity in the Northern Hemisphere where diversity peaked at subtropical latitudes. In the Southern Hemisphere, diversity showed a tropical plateau into the temperate regions. This asymmetry around the Equator may be explained by climatic conditions, in particular the influence of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, prevailing mainly in the northern tropical region. Ocean temperature was the most important explanatory factor among all environmental variables tested, accounting for 54 per cent of the variation in diversity. Given the strong positive correlation between diversity and temperature, local copepod diversity, especially in extra-tropical regions, is likely to increase with climate change as their large-scale distributions respond to climate warming.

Going Global: planning the next 80 years of the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey

Going Global: planning the next 80 years of the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey. Operated by the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS), the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey is the world’s largest, sampling 4 ocean basins, and longest running (since 1931) plankton biodiversity monitoring programme. Having sampled enough miles to circumnavigate the globe over 200 times, the CPR database houses over 2.5 million entries, describing the distribution of 500 phytoplankton and zooplankton taxa. Routinely sampling in the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans, the survey analyses 4000 samples yearly. Data collected from these samples are made freely available for bona fide scientific purposes. The CPR survey data is used to generate a better understanding of changes in the plankton and to date some 1000 papers have been published on plankton biodiversity. This year sees the 80th anniversary of the CPR survey and to celebrate and build upon this unique monitoring programme, SAHFOS intends to further develop its global plankton perspective. Work will be extended into the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean and an international partnership with complementary surveys in Australia, Canada, America, Japan and South Africa will be implemented. The Digital Object will describe the CPR survey using compilations made by Plymouth Art College and BBC film footage.