Using ecological and paleoecological data to inform future marine conservation
Human-driven increases in atmospheric CO₂ are causing ocean warming, acidification, and increasing pollution from plastic debris—key stressors that are reshaping marine ecosystems worldwide. Understanding how marine organisms respond to this complex suite of environmental and anthropogenic pressures is critical for predicting future ecological trajectories and informing effective conservation strategies.
Our research mainly focuses on marine calcifiers –organisms that build calcium carbonate skeletons –including ecologically important but often overlooked taxa such as bryozoans. Our approach integrates two complementary blocks of objectives:
Our research mainly focuses on marine calcifiers –organisms that build calcium carbonate skeletons –including ecologically important but often overlooked taxa such as bryozoans. Our approach integrates two complementary blocks of objectives:
Response mechanisms and environmental context in benthic calcifiers
1. Investigate the physiological and ecological responses of marine calcifiers and their associated microbiomes to key environmental stressors such as ocean warming and acidification.
2. Reconstruct natural and anthropogenic changes in coastal ecosystems by analyzing geochemical and paleoecological (e.g. stable isotopes and mineralogical composition, and fossil assemblages) proxies preserved in their calcified skeletons.
2. Reconstruct natural and anthropogenic changes in coastal ecosystems by analyzing geochemical and paleoecological (e.g. stable isotopes and mineralogical composition, and fossil assemblages) proxies preserved in their calcified skeletons.
SEM image of part of a calcified colony of the Antarctic bryozoan Astochoporella cassidula. Figuerola et al. 2023. Cover image of the journal. Click on the image to see the high resolution image.
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3D images of bryozoans to study morphological and structural changes. Credit: M. Cerdà and B. Figuerola.
Video made from 3D images of Myriapora truncata. Credit: B. Figuerola.
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Relevant publications
- Figuerola B*, Linares C, Aparicio-Estalella C, López-Sendino P, Garrabou J, del Campo J. 2025. Microbiome composition in a common Mediterranean bryozoan following an unprecedented marine heatwave. Environmental Microbiology Reports 17:e70185.
- Figuerola B*, Capdevila P, Cerdà M, Garrabou J, Mirasole A, Bassols P, del Campo J, Teixidó N. 2025. Interactive effects of ocean acidification and warming disrupt calcification and microbiome composition in bryozoans. Communications Biology 8:1135.
- Azcárate-García T*, Avila C, Figuerola B*. 2024. Skeletal Mg content in common echinoderm species from Deception and Livingston Islands (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) in the context of global change. Marine Pollution Bulletin 199: 115956.
- Figuerola B*, Griffiths H, Krzeminska M,Piwoni-Piorewicz A, Iglikowska A, Kuklinski P. 2023. Temperature as a likely driver shaping global patterns in mineralogical composition in bryozoans: Implications for marine calcifiers under Global Change. Ecography 06381.
- Figuerola B*, Hancock AM, Bax N, Cummings V, Downey R, Griffiths H, Smith J, Stark JS. 2021. A review and meta-analysis of potential impacts of ocean acidification on marine calcifiers from the Southern Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:58444.
- Figuerola B*, Grossman EL, Lucey N, Leonard ND, O'Dea A. 2021. Millennial-scale change on a Caribbean reef system that experiences hypoxia. Ecography 44(9): 1270-1282.
Monitoring current patterns and future risks
3. Assess the diversity and distribution of marine calcifiers and develop morphological, molecular, and functional trait databases to support the establishment of ecological baselines for detecting future shifts and species introductions.
4. Evaluate anthropogenic vectors –particularly plastic debris acting as emerging substrates and dispersal pathways– for their role in facilitating colonization and bioinvasions, thereby identifying emerging bioinvasion risks.
To achieve these goals, we combine long-term field observations with laboratory experiments, applying advanced molecular, imaging, and geochemical techniques. This integrative approach allows us to assess responses from holobiont dynamics to ecosystem structure, across temporal scales spanning recent decades to millennia.
4. Evaluate anthropogenic vectors –particularly plastic debris acting as emerging substrates and dispersal pathways– for their role in facilitating colonization and bioinvasions, thereby identifying emerging bioinvasion risks.
To achieve these goals, we combine long-term field observations with laboratory experiments, applying advanced molecular, imaging, and geochemical techniques. This integrative approach allows us to assess responses from holobiont dynamics to ecosystem structure, across temporal scales spanning recent decades to millennia.
Acorn barnacles of the species Amphibalanus amphitrite on a plastic bottle. Kannan et al. 2023.
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One of the identified species —the bryozoan Arbopercula tenella— on plastics is not native from the Mediterranean. Subías-Baratau et al. 2022.
The gorgonians Leptogorgia sarmentosa and Eunicella verrucosa on plastics. Subías-Baratau et al. 2022.
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Relevant publications
- Figuerola B*, Ruiz-García D, Subías-Baratau A, Maceda-Veiga A, Sanchez-Vidal A, Barría C. 2024. Adapting to a pollution hotspot? Catsharks shift to plastic substrates for oviposition. Science of The Total Environment 955: 176998.
- Jossart Q, Bauman D, Moreau C.VE , Saucède T, Christiansen H, Brasier MJ, Convey P, Downey R, Figuerola B, Martin P, Norenburg J, Rosenfeld S, Verheye M, Danis B. 2023. A pioneer morphological and genetic study of the intertidal fauna of the Gerlache Strait (Antarctic Peninsula). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 195: 514.
- Campanyà-Llovet N, Bates A, Cuvelier D, Giacomello E, Catarino D, Gooday AJ, Berning B, Figuerola B, [21 other authors] Colaço A. 2023. FUN Azores: A FUNctional trait database for the meio-, macro-, and megafauna from the Azores Marine Park (Mid-Atlantic Ridge). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11:1050268.
- Kannan G, Mghili B, Di Martino E, Sanchez-Vidal A, Figuerola B*. 2023. Increasing Risk of Invasions by Organisms on Marine Debris in the Southeast Coast of India. Marine Pollution Bulletin 115469.
- Subías-Baratau A, Sanchez-Vidal A, Di Martino E, Figuerola B*. 2022. Marine biofouling organisms on beached, buoyant and benthic plastic debris in the Catalan Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin 175: 113405.
- Figuerola B*, Barnes DKA, Brickle P, Brewin PD. 2017. Bryozoan diversity around the Falkland and South Georgia Islands: Overcoming Antarctic barriers. Marine Environmental Research 126:81-94.
Bryozoans as models for Global Change research
Bryozoans are a major focus of our research due to their high taxonomic and functional diversity, broad ecological distribution—from intertidal zones to the deep sea—and their capacity to archive environmental conditions in their calcified skeletons. Despite being underrepresented in ecological and evolutionary studies, bryozoans serve as excellent model organisms for global change research because they:
Our expertise in bryozoan biology and taxonomy underpins multiple aspects of our research, allowing us to better understand how benthic communities respond to environmental stressors across both short and long timescales. Recognizing that a persistent lack of expert-curated resources—especially for invertebrate taxa—continues to limit our ability to predict biodiversity responses, we contribute to international initiatives focused on developing comprehensive morphological, molecular, and functional trait databases. These efforts are essential for improving conservation planning, supporting environmental monitoring, and enhancing the accuracy of ecological forecasting.
- Are abundant and diverse, with over 6,000 species worldwide.
- Play key roles in benthic ecosystems as habitat formers and competitors.
- Produce bioactive compounds with promising pharmaceutical applications.
- Serve as natural archives of past environmental conditions, given their mineralized skeletons and well-preserved fossil record.
- Are effective foulers, readily colonizing both natural and artificial substrates, which makes them ideal for studying species dispersal and human-mediated bioinvasions.
Our expertise in bryozoan biology and taxonomy underpins multiple aspects of our research, allowing us to better understand how benthic communities respond to environmental stressors across both short and long timescales. Recognizing that a persistent lack of expert-curated resources—especially for invertebrate taxa—continues to limit our ability to predict biodiversity responses, we contribute to international initiatives focused on developing comprehensive morphological, molecular, and functional trait databases. These efforts are essential for improving conservation planning, supporting environmental monitoring, and enhancing the accuracy of ecological forecasting.
SEM images of six selected bryozoan species studied from east Antarctica. Credit: B. Figuerola.
"Anyone who starts to look at bryozoans will continue to do so, for their biology is full of interest and unsolved mysteries".
J. Ryland.
J. Ryland.
