Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

What is Biodiversity?01:19

What is Biodiversity?

27.9K
Biodiversity describes the variety of living things at multiple organizational levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity includes all branches of the evolutionary tree from single-celled prokaryotic organisms, bacteria, and archaea, to the eukaryotic kingdoms: plants; animals; fungi; and protists. To date, there have been about 1.75 million species identified, and new species are discovered every week.
27.9K
Marine Microbial Ecology01:30

Marine Microbial Ecology

66
Marine microbial ecosystems are shaped by distinct physicochemical limits, including high salinity, low nutrient availability, and fluctuating oxygen levels. These conditions favor smaller microbial cell sizes, which maximize their surface-to-volume ratio for efficient nutrient uptake.Microbial activity and community composition are closely linked to biogeochemical cycles, particularly in dynamic environments like estuaries, where halotolerant microbes thrive in response to variable salinity...
66
Diversity of Protists II01:27

Diversity of Protists II

2.3K
Alveolates are a group of organisms recognized by the presence of alveoli, which are cytoplasmic sacs located beneath the cell membrane. While their function remains uncertain, alveoli may help regulate water balance by controlling how much water enters and leaves the cell. In dinoflagellates, these structures may serve as armor plates. There are three major types of alveolates: ciliates, which move using cilia; dinoflagellates, which use flagella for movement; and apicomplexans, which are...
2.3K
Diversity of Protists III01:27

Diversity of Protists III

2.1K
Rhizaria are a diverse group of unicellular protists characterized by their threadlike cytoplasmic extensions known as pseudopodia. These structures aid in both locomotion and feeding, giving Rhizaria an amoeboid appearance. Their amoeboid morphology once led to taxonomic confusion, but molecular phylogenetics has clarified their evolutionary placement and emphasized their shared use of pseudopodia despite divergent lineages.This clade comprises diverse lineages such as Chlorarachniophyta,...
2.1K
Diversity of Protists IV01:27

Diversity of Protists IV

2.1K
Amoebozoa represent a diverse group of terrestrial and aquatic protists that utilize lobe-shaped pseudopodia for locomotion and feeding. This characteristic differentiates them from the Rhizaria, which possess threadlike pseudopodia. The primary classifications within Amoebozoa include gymnamoebas, entamoebas, and the plasmodial and cellular slime molds. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that Amoebozoa diverged from a lineage that ultimately gave rise to fungi and animals.Gymnamoebas and...
2.1K
Diversity of Protists I01:15

Diversity of Protists I

2.3K
Excavata is a diverse group of protists that includes both chemoorganotrophic and phototrophic species, with some thriving in anaerobic environments. Among the key groups within Excavata are diplomonads and parabasalids, which are flagellated protists that lack mitochondria and chloroplasts. These microorganisms typically inhabit anoxic environments, such as the intestines of animals, where they exist either symbiotically or as parasites, relying on fermentation for energy production. Some...
2.3K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Computational Study of Heme <i>b</i><sub>595</sub> to Heme <i>d</i> Electron Transfer in <i>E. coli</i> Cytochrome <i>bd</i>-I Oxidase.

Journal of chemical information and modeling·2026
Same author

Corrigendum to "E6 Proteins from Diverse Papillomaviruses Self-Associate Both In Vitro and In Vivo" [J. Mol. Biol. 396(1) (2010) 90-104].

Journal of molecular biology·2026
Same author

Resonance Raman Spectroscopic Study of the Unusual [4Fe-4S]<sup>2+</sup> Cluster of IspH, the Last Enzyme of the Methylerythritol Phosphate Pathway for Terpenoid Biosynthesis.

Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology·2025
Same author

Mild and Selective Trifluoromethylation of Peptides at Tryptophane Residues by a Water-Soluble Copper Complex with Redox-Active Ligands.

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2025
Same author

Short time series obscure compensatory dynamics in ecological communities.

Nature ecology & evolution·2025
Same author

Insights Into Spatial Synchrony Enabled by Long-Term Data.

Ecology letters·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 2, 2026

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities
07:59

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities

Published on: January 6, 2023

3.9K

The marine diversity spectrum.

Daniel C Reuman1,2, Henrik Gislason3, Carolyn Barnes4

  • 1Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, SL5 7PY, UK.

The Journal of Animal Ecology
|March 5, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces the marine diversity spectrum, revealing how species body size distributions in marine ecosystems are shaped by ecological and evolutionary factors. It predicts a linear relationship between diversity and body mass across vast scales.

Keywords:
biodiversitybody masscommunityneutral theorypower lawsize spectrum

More Related Videos

Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
10:43

Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology

Published on: November 5, 2014

25.0K
An Aquatic Microbial Metaproteomics Workflow: From Cells to Tryptic Peptides Suitable for Tandem Mass Spectrometry-based Analysis
08:09

An Aquatic Microbial Metaproteomics Workflow: From Cells to Tryptic Peptides Suitable for Tandem Mass Spectrometry-based Analysis

Published on: September 15, 2015

8.2K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 2, 2026

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities
07:59

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities

Published on: January 6, 2023

3.9K
Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
10:43

Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology

Published on: November 5, 2014

25.0K
An Aquatic Microbial Metaproteomics Workflow: From Cells to Tryptic Peptides Suitable for Tandem Mass Spectrometry-based Analysis
08:09

An Aquatic Microbial Metaproteomics Workflow: From Cells to Tryptic Peptides Suitable for Tandem Mass Spectrometry-based Analysis

Published on: September 15, 2015

8.2K

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Marine Biology

Background:

  • Species body size distributions within taxonomic groups are well-studied, but less so for geographic assemblages.
  • Understanding diversity patterns across body mass is crucial for evolutionary and ecological insights.
  • Geographic assemblages offer a different perspective on evolutionary and ecological processes compared to taxonomic groups.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and test a mechanistic model for marine species diversity as a function of body mass.
  • To introduce and validate the 'diversity spectrum' as a new descriptor of biodiversity patterns.
  • To explain the underlying ecological and evolutionary drivers of marine diversity spectra.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a mechanistic model predicting the diversity spectrum based on body mass.
  • Quantified species' asymptotic body masses to construct diversity spectra.
  • Validated model predictions using a global empirical analysis of marine biodiversity data.

Main Results:

  • The marine diversity spectrum is predicted to be approximately linear across seven orders of magnitude of asymptotic body mass.
  • A global slope of -0.5 is predicted for marine diversity spectra in pelagic zones, with regional slopes between -0.5 and -0.1.
  • Steeper slopes (indicating fewer large species relative to small species) are predicted for larger or colder marine regions.
  • Model predictions were largely supported by global empirical data.

Conclusions:

  • The study explains a new, widespread biodiversity phenomenon: the marine diversity spectrum.
  • The relationship between marine diversity and body mass is driven by predation, dispersal, and life history traits.
  • Findings have implications for estimating species richness, especially for small-bodied organisms.
  • The diversity spectrum provides a widely applicable new description of biodiversity patterns.