Energy quality shapes biodiversity across coastal oceans
- 1Department of Marine Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Dr, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA
Abstract
Earth's biodiversity is distributed unevenly, typically peaking in warm, vegetated, and stable environments. This has frequently been linked to energy availability, which boosts productivity, bolsters populations, and facilitates coexistence. Here, we examine the relationship between energy and biodiversity across coastal oceans using particulate organic matter biogeochemistry and environmental DNA. We reveal that energy quantity (concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrolyzable amino acids) and salinity, two variables that co-vary with freshwater inflow, jointly predict species richness at regional and global scales. Biodiversity was lowest at sites and locations with high energy inflow and low salinity, suggesting that environmental filtering associated with the osmotic stress induced by freshwater inflow outweighs raw resource availability in governing species richness. Independent of this gradient, however, energy quality (defined via C:N ratios, {delta}C values, and amino acid profiles) was associated with higher biodiversity. Labile, protein-rich, marine-derived resources supported higher biodiversity across all taxa at the regional scale, and a larger number of planktonic consumer taxa at both regional and global scales. High energy quality sites were also enriched in key planktonic groups such as calanoid and cyclopoid copepods, suggesting that these sites act as hotspots of planktonic biodiversity across coastal seascapes. Our findings suggest that few species can directly harness the plentiful resources provided by terrestrial subsidies in coastal oceans because they arrive in low salinity waters. In turn, high-quality food attracts a diverse range of consumers, which may seed the patchy foraging hotspots that characterize open-water food webs. Altered coastal hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry may therefore affect nearshore biodiversity, food webs, and fisheries.
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BibTeX
@misc{brandl2026energy,
title = {{Energy quality shapes biodiversity across coastal oceans}},
author = {S. J. Brandl and N. R. Foster and R. F. Semmler and I. V. Bunholi and J. E. Duffy and Z. Liu and S. R. Connolly and M. Leray and J. S. Lefcheck and K. DiBenedetto and E. R. Anderson and D. M. Baker and X. Boza and J. Canning-Clode and V. Cardona and R. Collin and L. Denis-Roy and G. J. Edgar and S. K. Gueroun and I. Guibert and D. S. Janiak and C. P. Meyer and M. B. Ogburn and A. M. Olson and L. Pastorelli and C. J. Patrick and C. Prentice and M. Rappe and Y. M. Rii and M. Seymour and X. Velez-Zuazo and J. Xue and J. M. Casey},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.23.753818},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753818v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Energy quality shapes biodiversity across coastal oceans
AU - S. J. Brandl
AU - N. R. Foster
AU - R. F. Semmler
AU - I. V. Bunholi
AU - J. E. Duffy
AU - Z. Liu
AU - S. R. Connolly
AU - M. Leray
AU - J. S. Lefcheck
AU - K. DiBenedetto
AU - E. R. Anderson
AU - D. M. Baker
AU - X. Boza
AU - J. Canning-Clode
AU - V. Cardona
AU - R. Collin
AU - L. Denis-Roy
AU - G. J. Edgar
AU - S. K. Gueroun
AU - I. Guibert
AU - D. S. Janiak
AU - C. P. Meyer
AU - M. B. Ogburn
AU - A. M. Olson
AU - L. Pastorelli
AU - C. J. Patrick
AU - C. Prentice
AU - M. Rappe
AU - Y. M. Rii
AU - M. Seymour
AU - X. Velez-Zuazo
AU - J. Xue
AU - J. M. Casey
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.23.753818
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753818v1
AB - Earth's biodiversity is distributed unevenly, typically peaking in warm, vegetated, and stable environments. This has frequently been linked to energy availability, which boosts productivity, bolsters populations, and facilitates coexistence. Here, we examine the relationship between energy and biodiversity across coastal oceans using particulate organic matter biogeochemistry and environmental DNA. We reveal that energy quantity (concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrolyzable amino acids) and salinity, two variables that co-vary with freshwater inflow, jointly predict species richness at regional and global scales. Biodiversity was lowest at sites and locations with high energy inflow and low salinity, suggesting that environmental filtering associated with the osmotic stress induced by freshwater inflow outweighs raw resource availability in governing species richness. Independent of this gradient, however, energy quality (defined via C:N ratios, {delta}C values, and amino acid profiles) was associated with higher biodiversity. Labile, protein-rich, marine-derived resources supported higher biodiversity across all taxa at the regional scale, and a larger number of planktonic consumer taxa at both regional and global scales. High energy quality sites were also enriched in key planktonic groups such as calanoid and cyclopoid copepods, suggesting that these sites act as hotspots of planktonic biodiversity across coastal seascapes. Our findings suggest that few species can directly harness the plentiful resources provided by terrestrial subsidies in coastal oceans because they arrive in low salinity waters. In turn, high-quality food attracts a diverse range of consumers, which may seed the patchy foraging hotspots that characterize open-water food webs. Altered coastal hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry may therefore affect nearshore biodiversity, food webs, and fisheries.
ER -